The Mudflats

Palin’s Attorney General nominee just keeps talking.

If he does manage to get confirmed somehow, we will surely be able to expect a  paperback in local bookstores entitled, “Attorneys General Say the Darndest Things.”  Or perhaps, “WAR’s Garden of Verse” or  “Wingnuts’ Familiar Quotations”?

Here is the latest addition.

When asked if he still thinks, as he wrote in an open letter to the Alaska Bar Newsletter some years ago, that gays are “degenerates” and “immoral” he responded:

“My personal opinions in that regard have no place and I decline to state my opinion.”

Sen. Bill Wielechowski pressed for an answer. “Do you still adhere to your statement from years ago where you said they were degenerates and immoral?” he asked. Ross: “I was not attorney general at that time.”

Wielechowski asked twice more and did not get a yes or no answer from Ross.

“So you’re refusing to answer my question?” said Wielechowski, an Anchorage Democrat.

Ross replied: “That’s correct, yes, senator, you betcha.”

When I read that in the Daily News this morning, I heard myself saying, “Oh. My. God.”  Spouse came in from the kitchen asking what was wrong.  I read it aloud, and we both stared at each other.  Are we continually stunned and amazed by this appointment?  You betcha.

Ross also addressed the fact that he volunteered to defend the man who drove by peaceful protesters, holding signs and speaking out against the Iraq war, and doused them with buckets of cold water.  After receiving a warning by the Soldotna police, ….he did it again.   The second time, he brought video equipment when he threw water on the women, and later added some background music (Lee Greenwood’s Proud to Be American) and sent it out via email.

Ross volunteered to defend Webster for no fee, saying he was harmlessly expressing his free speech out of concern for a son in the war zone. “The more people who protest the war like that, the more dangerous it is for the kids,” Ross said at the time. “What does the state see in prosecuting someone whose son is fighting for the country?”

Just my wild speculation, but perhaps the state sees “use” in prosecuting someone who is….oh, I don’t know….breaking the law?  Or perhaps we can look forward to passing laws that release from prison anyone who has a child who’s a veteran?  Who knows what we might expect from our new AG.

And after the last week of controversy and divisiveness, with disparaging comments about gays, about victims of domestic violence, dismissiveness about ethics complaints, inappropriate and salacious comments about the governor, and a history of opinion that has every Native organization in the state up in arms over this appointment, what does the governor say?  Any second thoughts?

Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said the governor feels good about Thursday’s vote.

“The governor absolutely stands behind Wayne Anthony Ross as her attorney general and is confident that he is going to get confirmed,” Leighow said.