The Mudflats

Wayne Anthony Ross, the most controversial, divisive, polarizing man possible to have been selected to be Alaska’s attorney general had a few interesting things to say this week.  He always seems to have interesting things to say, and each time the gaffes just pile up.  He’s giving the governor a run for her money in the gaffe department.  Here are the latest gems.

The Lima Beans

Representative Lindsey Holmes asked Ross how he would view cases involving homosexuality, you know…him thinking they’re “degenerates” and all, and writing it in the Alaska Bar Newsletter.

Ross responded, “Let me give you an analogy. I hate lima beans. I’ve never liked lima beans. But if I was hired to represent the United Vegetable Growers would you ask me if I liked lima beans? No. If I disliked lima beans? No. Because my job is to represent the United Vegetable Growers.”

Now, we love a good analogy here at Mudflats.  In fact it’s one of our favorite literary devices. So, if gays are lima beans, and the United Vegetable Growers are the state of Alaska, then what does it sound like when we replace those words in our little analogy?

“I hate gays.  I’ve never liked gays.  But, if I was hired to represent the State of Alaska, would you ask me if I liked gays?  No.  If I disliked gays?  No.  Because my job is to represent the State of Alaska.”

Ah, now we see.  So do we feel better now?  No.

The Leathers

In public testimony given before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, a woman who organized a panel discussion with AWAIC (Alaska Women and Children in Crisis) and the court system at the University of Alaska at which Ross was a panelist, stated the following:

“When [Ross] got up and spoke, his views were fairly sexist and the implication was that domestic violence was starting to be on the rise because of the equal rights movement, and that it emasculated men, and therefore they beat their wives. He went on to make insinuations that there wasn’t a lot of real domestic violence and that a lot of women were liars and making it up. I just found those statements to be extremely sexist and the reaction of other people in the room was similar.”

Another woman who had been a citizen lobbyist on behalf of families and children in Alaska with regard to child support, custody, abuse, abandonment and neglect spoke before the House Judiciary Committee the following day about statements she heard at a meeting of Dads Against Discrimination. “Numerous comments were made that were appalling, not the least of which were remarks by Mr. Ross which included the following; “If a guy can’t rape his wife…who’s he gonna rape?” and “There wouldn’t be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut.”

Despite the fact that several women have come forward with stories of Ross’ offensive sexist statements, he vehemently denied making the comments, saying “I don’t talk like that.”

But at the House Judiciary Committee meeting, Representative Jay Ramras expressed some concern over the governor wearing a jacket and pants with a giant Arctic Cat logo on the front (and ”Sarah” embroidered on the placket) at the start of the Iron Dog race.  The fact that her husband Todd was being paid by Arctic Cat who sponsored his team, and the fact that getting product placement on the governor’s chest is….”priceless”, resulted in an ethics complaint.
Ramras actually gets that this is inappropriate, and said to Ross “We have a governor who is provocative in a lot of her actions. Recently it comes to mind when she was in Fairbanks for the finish line of the Iron Dog, she was wearing Arctic Cat gear, Arctic Cat leathers, while her husband…

Ross cut him off, and just to prove that he’s not a sexist, he said aloud in a Legislative hearing before the committee, on the record, “She was provocative. She looked very good in it, didn’t she?”

I know this has been a lot to absorb.  But carry on with me for another minute on a little voyage of the imagination.  Let’s suppose that we’re talking about the confirmation of the Attorney General of the United States, instead of the one for Alaska.  It’s basically the same structure.  And let’s just say our nomineee, Eric Holder, is before the House Judiciary Committee taking questions to determine suitability for the position.  Actually, let’s suppose that our appointee is female….we’ll call her Erica Holder.  And suppose Ms. Holder, during her official statement let us all know that she thought Barack Obama looked really provocative in his leathers.

I’ll give you a moment to imagine how the media might react to such a statement.  Think through all the political round table discussions, all the talk shows, and late night TV.  Think about the newspaper headlines and the reaction of the blogosphere.

Do we believe for one second that this candidate would be taken seriously?  Would people be aghast at the disrespect shown to the chief executive?  Would this statement be regarded as outrageous and embarrassing?  Credibility would be lost instantaneously.  And what would people be thinking of the person who nominated this idiot?

Rumors abound that the Legislature is actually getting the picture, and having some serious questions about confirming a man who has been so outspoken in his disdain for subsistence preference, tribal sovereignty, the LGBT community, and now the largest voting block of all – women.

About the only thing that could make him more despised by average Alaskans would be if he outwardly mocked and trivialized the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Oh, wait…

It is Time We Quit Crying Over the Oil Spill (September 1989)

We see almost every day, the same films of what appears to be the same oil-soaked duck pulled out of the water. The state claims to have a number of refrigerated vans filled with about 30,000 carcasses of waterfowl killed by oil. No doubt some of these birds were casualties of oil. But had several thousand people combed Prince William Sound for dead waterfowl any prior summer, as they did in the summer of 1988 [sic], there is no doubt that an equal number of dead birds could have been accumulated.

What will happen between now and Thrusday’s confirmation hearing?  The rumors in Juneau are that there’s about an even split on the votes to confirm or not confirm, and that the governor may not want the vote to go forward if it’s going to be close, or a lose for her. This is the time that emails and phone calls are important.

It’s going to be an interesting week.