It’s been interesting watching the latest ethics kerfuffle in the governor’s office. This time it centers around the fact that Sean Parnell (whom we shall refer to as SP 2.0, since he is the latest and greatest incarnation of the original SP whom you all know) decided to offer Rep. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) a job. There was just one teeny problem. According to the Alaska Constitution, a governor cannot offer a sitting legislator a job that was created while they were in office.
Dahlstrom announced in May that she would be resigning from the state House to take a new position as Parnell’s senior military adviser. When reporters questioned that, the Parnell administration maintained her $96,000 job was legal because it would not be technically created until after Dahlstrom resigned from the Legislature.
Keep in mind that Dahlstrom held the position of “Rules Chair” when she was in the legislature. Just sayin.
The blue end of the blogosphere was all set to pounce, when something wonderful happened. The Republicans did. There’s nothing that progressives like quite so much as Republican on Republican violence, so we popped the corn, put our feet up and rooted for…. (wait for it)… conservative radio talk show host Dan Fagan. It really was like the good ol’ days of that first SP. Dan Fagan hammered on Parnell relentlessly day after day on his radio show. Andree McLeod (whose complaints had been heretofore mostly ignored) even called in to throw her support behind the effort.
Eventually Dan Sullivan (the carpetbagging Attorney General Dan Sullivan, not the hideous mayor of the same name) said that they’d better just look at this situation again. Just to be sure. On the second pass, he decided that maybe this was illegal after all, even though this is not the first time it happened. Go figure. And now, Nancy Dahlstrom resigned from her newly created post as the governor’s senior military advisor.
Contrition? Regret? An apology from the Governor’s office? Of course not.
“In my opinion, we followed both the letter of the law and the spirit of the law,” Parnell said.
How very… Palinesque.
So, the governor offers a sitting legislator a job, but not a real job, a fantasy job that will be created for her the moment she resigns from office. And the legislator says she’ll be leaving office and a secure seat in the legislature to take this job that has yet to be created, and that she has yet to be offered, and that she has yet to accept? Hmmm. Fishy? Quite.
Here’s where we try to figure this out. How is it possible that SP 2.0 believes this? He’s an attorney. He’s a governor. It just makes no sense… What could he be thinking?
(insert harp music here as everything goes all blurry)
Our scene begins in the governor’s office. We see Sean Parnell pacing back and forth, holding a small bound booklet. Periodically he pauses, searches for a particular passage, reads it intently, and then continues pacing. His brow is furrowed and he has the appearance of a man who has had little sleep.
Nancy Dahlstrom enters. He’s been expecting her. She takes a seat, looking irritated.
“Well, this is a fine mess you’ve gotten me into, Governor. What were you thinking?”
“Look Nancy… this thing was airtight. I even hired a great out-of-state Attorney General who looked it over.”
“You just didn’t notice where it said that a governor couldn’t hire a sitting legislator to a newly created position? It’s in the constitution for crying out loud!”
Parnell looks a little sheepish, but rebounds quickly and holds out in front of him the pamphlet.
“It DOES follow the letter and spirit of the law. It IS ethical. It says so right here!”
He shakes the pamphlet at her, with pleading eyes.
“Look, it’s right there in Section 5, Paragraph 1, third sentence from the top.”
He has memorized the passage
“Neither the Alaska Constitution, nor any other rules of conduct or ethics shall apply to the governor if it interferes with the governor working every day for the benefit of the great state of Alaska, including development of its abundant resources, its military that fights every day for our freedoms in this strategic location so close to those countries that are not necessarily our friends, the abundance of its wildlife for harvesting and filling our large freezers, its soaring fireweed covered mountains and the dark ribbons of highway that carve through the reluctant canyons like a river the kind of which burbles over the rocks and creates our majestic vistas and makes Alaska so unique and one of a kind in its vast sweeping bigness, and its frontier spirit.”
He finishes reading, like a child who has memorized a favorite poem.
“Did you see the part there at the beginning where it says ethics shall not apply to the governor? So, I don’t get it. I followed it exactly to the spirit and letter, and I don’t know why everyone is freaking out about this Nancy, honestly I don’t.”
Nancy Dahlstrom, her jaw set, gazing flatly at this little performance, is not amused.
“Where did you get this?” she asks, thumbing through the booklet.
“It was sitting right here on the desk when I came in on the first day.”
She closes the booklet and reads the title. He circles around behind so he can see.
“Rules and Regulations and How to Ignore Them (for the good of the great state of Alaska)
A Handbook of Frequently Asked Questions
Compiled by Sarah Palin, Governor” : )
So did Dahlstrom resign? Or was her date of official resignation effective upon her accepting the job?
Were there other candidates that SP2.0 considered for the job, or was this job created especially for Dahlstrom, and, if so, why?
Why would Parnell want Dahlstrom out of the legislature?
Inquiring minds wanna know!
Good question. Does she have to give back the salary she’s received to date from this job that was apparently not legal for her to accept in the first place?
Oh, well, I read the article. Her qualifications? “She’s one of the few legislators who shows up for every military event.”
All right then. Clearly she’s the only person who could have filled this “important” position.
and she prolly also too had a childhood love of cows.
‘Important’ AND expensive – with those “qualifications” it’s an outrage that she could pocket a 96K salary!
Is Dahlstrom’s seat in the legislature gone now? Isn’t this Lisa’s old seat? Is the Senior Military Advisor position available? Maybe SP2 could hire McChrystal. I hear he’s available!
Maybe McChrystal might not be the right person for this all-important “military” job. His previous advice and strategy didn’t play out too well for him, Iraq or America. Just think what he could bungle up in Alaska.
Why does a Governor need a military advisor? Must be worried about Putin rearing his head again.
That was the first thing that popped into my head! Unless there’s a need for it in all that 10th amendmenty stuff.
It’s wild and crazy up there in Uhlassska, ain’t it!
Its not Putin rearing. Its the horses he keeps being photoed on.
All perfectly harmless, it’s just Sarah likes to dramatize.
This post is delightful and came at just the right time. I had just recommended your blog to someone who had been admiring my bumper stickers and with whom I had a fantastic political conversation in the parking lot of the central branch of country library. So nice to find kindred spirits unexpectedly!
I should explain that my bumper stickers express a range of interests, both spiritual and political that in toto proclaim to the world that I am a liberal/progressive soul. The gentlemen to whom I recommended themudflats.net to has only come to Kansas within the past few years and is still suffering culture shock much the way I imagine progressives from the northeast would feel if they landed smack-dab in Mayor Sullivan’s backyard or came under Governor Sean Parnell’s Palinesque umbrella without warning.
Kansas and Alaska have much in common regarding politics – though I must acknowledge that Alaska politicians, at present, can claim the top prize in Most Corrupt and Most Sensational categories (or is it just that you have more intelligent, activist progressives and braver moderate Republicans?)
It won’t be long though, if the 2010 elections go the way the pundits here think they will, until Kansas gives Alaska a run for its money in those categories and more. Consider that the current Senator Brownback is running to be our Governor, the distasteful Kobach of Arizona immigration law drafting infamy is set on becoming our Secretary of State, and a Moron – excuse, me – a man called Moran is running for Brownback’s soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat who will out-conservative the retiring Opus Dei conservative himself.
So, AKM, whilst I have recommended your blog to this man whom I met today as being one of the finest political blogs in the country, and you have done me proud with this posting (as is your habit), I call upon you to consider relocating or sending a clone of yourself to save my fair state of Kansas.
I hope the man I met is enjoying reading your blog this evening, and perhaps he himself will join me in hoping that if you cannot or will not come to our rescue that we find someone of your caliber very soon to take on the looming doom of Brownback-Kobach-Moron, er Moran triumphant. The scene is ripe for cultivating, and I know there are tales to tell given the right investigative soul to revel in the material.
Thank you so much for proving why you are so highly recommended. Some of his parting words to me still sing sweetly in my ears and heart: “You were raised in Kansas? How did you get to be a liberal here?”
I had to reassure him that even in intellectually-forsaken areas such as Kansas, there are progressives.
We are a small but growing species known to signal each other through our bumper stickers, lawn signs or secret handshakes. The bumper stickers have proven to be the most effective lure even though they have engendered much backlash and damage to the pain job of my car (who knew ultra conservatives had so many sharp keys?).
People stroll back and forth in parking lots or along the sidewalks and downright lurk next to my car just to jump out and shake my hand or bounce excitedly as they tell me of the thrill of finding a kindred spirit amidst the desolation of a red-state mentality. We are here, but we are fragile. We need a strong voice and sweet spirit to bind us together and help us learn to laugh at instead of moan because of our wearisome politicos and their oppressive regimes.
However, until that day we continue to seek out and reassure each that we are hanging-on and perhaps even growing in numbers, and that we will never give in to the fears and foolishness that characterizes the right-wing conservatives. (There were once moderate Republicans here, but they have been threatened and traumatized and are only now in transition – ever slowly but surely – to moderate progressive viewpoints if only to escape the madness that has become the Republican party everywhere, even in the heartland and the hinterland frontiers.)
Thank you for being a beacon of hope, humor and comfort. Thanks, too, for gathering mudpups/mudflatters from all over the world for we have needed a safe haven a virtual home where we can laugh, cry, and rejoice together.
I know you will have won yet another fan if this man follows my advice and seeks out your blog!
er – “paint job of my car” — though I guess “pain job” simply reflects the way I feel when I find yet another little reminder that I am not in a Blue or even Purple state.
Hmmmm. Let’s see… (scratching head and stroking chin)…. where on earth could we find a great writer with a passion for politics, who is also a good progressive, and lives in Kansas…. Give me a second…. I’ll think of one….
(boring holes into you with my virtual eyes)
My thought exactly. KS, as they say on daily Kos “yes, we’re staring at you.”
I join you in that [ahem] ‘most intense gazing’ directed ks sunflower’s way, physicsmom. beth.
Absolutely. I was fortunate enough to leave Kansas in 1980 before things got crazier than I remember them. Of course, I had parents who were born in Kansas, and both were life-long Democrats, as am I (also born in Kansas). I went to the University of Kansas and continued living in Lawrence for another six years before we moved to Wichita and then to Washington state. Lawrence, is of course, regarded as the bastion of liberals, outcasts and instigators. Somewhat true, by conservative Kansas standards, but I did feel at home there.
So, ks sunflower, what are you waiting for? Start blogging away. You have the best model in AKM and Mudflats. And you definitely are more passionate and informed and a more consistent poster than some of us.
Just send us the link. I’ve been gone from Kansas for almost 30 years, but I do still pay attention to what goes on there. And I’m sure there are other former Kansans who would like to hear a more reasonable voice coming from the Sunflower state, home of the Kansas Jayhawks. (Shameless plug, I know.
)
Very well-said and a delight to read!
Blushing, blushing, blushing. I think I am turning into a rosy coneflower. Thank you everyone.
Beautifully written ks sunflower. We will all hope that your ‘hopefully’ new blog will start changing the hue of KS from red to purple to blue.
What about that ‘other’ position Parnell hired for – out of the Legislature? It was done before the Dahlstrom matter. In fact, I believe it was done fairly soon after he stepped into his ‘non-elected’ governoship. I cannot remember the fellows name, but Parnell indicated hiring him due to his oil knowledge derived during his time in the Legislature. Was a position created for this man too? I suggest the matter be reviewed.
That would be Gene Therriault…and my thought exactly.
I would love to have bumper stickers on my car, by refrain from doing so, as I fear the bold and ugly.
I did wear an Obama T-shirt during the election, and got some smiles and some dirty looks while shopping. I don’t care to have to have a “paint” job on my van.
I would be curious to know if she got paid, gets benefits, or gets some sort of severance package. There has to be a money trail. It’s the AK government way.
Another ethics scandal for SP 2.0? Just another day in Alaska.
Parnell is cut from the same cloth as she who shall not be named. He may be worse because he pulls all his fishiness without squawking in front of a microphone or writing press releases about it. Dan Sullivan AG is just up here as a stepping stone to national office b/c he thinks it’ll be easy to do in Alaska. Mark my words. Dahlstrom isn’t too bad, but seriously. Rules chair? Uhhhhh. … think she should know better. Give me a break.
They all knew it was unethical. They just thought they could get away with it. Parnell and Sullivan need to GO.
I like how these ‘smaller government’ types love creating jobs for friends. The jobs have no real objective, just a title and a big office and a big salary.
What the heck is a Senior Military Advisor supposed to do? Does Dahlstrom have ANY qualifications related to the military?
Doesn’t he already have a Senior Military Advisor in Maj Gen Thomas Katkus, Commissioner of Military and Veterans Affairs, an established position n an actual department?
Lawyer-speak from AG Sullivan: “Although the Department of Law’s earlier advice was not unreasonable, there is an appreciable risk that an Alaska court may not concur with the analysis on which that advice was based.”
Translation: “Oops! We got caught!
AKM, another well-written exposee (I don’t know how to add an accent to the ‘e’). Reminds me once again why I keep coming back here, in addition to all the insight gleaned from the comments and the links to exciting places I wouldn’t have found otherwise. Kudos to you and the Mudflats community!
This whole thing is truly bizarre. The Governor already has a military adviser – the Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard, who is also the Commissioner of The Alaska Department of Military and Veteran Affairs – Major General Tom Katkus. General Katkus is as good as they come as a commander. He’s forgotten more about the military than the Governor and Ms. Dahlstrom will ever know. This incident proves that Sean obviously doesn’t know (nor does he seem to care to know) anything about his military constituency here in Alaska.
Perhaps Ms. Dahlstrom also qualified for the job because she liked the little green soldier men in the Toy Story movies.
Is that the same one that Brian stomped on in the photo the other day? LOL
[[in sotto voce so as to not disrupt this, once again, most excellent thread....
The post says: "Contrition? Regret? An apology from the Governor’s office? Of course now." Should that be: "Of course not", AKM? beth.]]
Thanks! They’ve got spell check…. I’m still waiting for brain check!
Or are they apologizing and contrite “now” because they got caught? Which is the way I read it.
It just never ceases to amaze me the lengths that some politicians will go to if they think they can get away with something.
And after reading all they’ve tried over the last two years, one would think I’d know better. They will just keep pushing the boundaries. Just like a little kid who knows the rules but constantly tests them to see if said rules are still the same, and if anyone is still paying attention.
It’s even sweeter that it was the republicans paying attention this time. They can’t possibly blame it on the Democrats who are always out to get them.
“Neither the Alaska Constitution…”
Whew. The hawse rayuhn ‘way with yu thar AKM. Theyats quyt uh sintents.
Either that or you’ve been transcribing SP too much lately.
With all the resources at the Governor’s disposal, you know, being the commander of chief of the Alaska Guard and what not, why did Parnell need to create this position? I can be a little slow on the uptake, but what did he, and Dahlstrom have to gain with this arrangement anyway? Wouldn’t Parnell have a lock on Eagle River votes already? If, god willing, Parnell loses his one half-assed bid for Governor, she only has a job for a few months.
Why was this position created?
I’m glad they got called on it, Fagan sometimes does some good. I feel bad Levi lost his cherry journeyman’s job on the North Slope when his future was still bright and right with the Palin’s, but Fagan, like a stopped clock, can be right twice a day.
If only the Falafal Lady (no offense to our esteemed citizen advocate) had as effective a response from the AG or the BS Personnel Board.
Can we go after those disrespectful members as well as the Governor this year?
But Petumenos also found that Palin – the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee – acted in good faith and relied on a team of attorneys, all but one from outside the state, to make sure the fund was lawful and complied with the Alaska Executive Branch Act.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/06/24/1339556/ethics-probe-palin-legal-defense.html#ixzz0sg8i1iyv
Attorney General Sullivan said Parnell, Dahlstrom and Therriault acted in good faith, following advice of the Department of Law.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/07/02/1351630/ex-lawmaker-quits-job-as-governors.html#ixzz0sg6jMsur
Does this mean that Therriault’s situation was reviewed in the same manner as Dahlstroms? I don’t recall seeing anything in the news about his hiring being reviewed in a like manner????
Actually, my point was both high profile cases were dismissed because of bad legal advice? The beneficiaries of said advice escape legal ramifications because they didn’t mean to break the law?
What a State, what a country.
SENIOR MILITARY ADVISOR?!?!?!?! Why does a Governor need any military advisor, let alone a senior one? He planning a preemptive strike against the Yukon? I thought these right wing tea party types were supposed to be aginnt big government.
By the way, what’s the deal with the steelhead? Not complaining, just curious.
Mike C. said: “what’s the deal with the steelhead?”
I think that was to emphasize AKM’s point in that paragraph surrounding the pic:
“Hmmm. Fishy? Quite.”
Don’t governors have cabinet members and princes have advisors?
*Off-topic alert!*
I caught this in my local rag a few minutes ago. I’m very disappointed that he lied then or that he’s lying now that he and $arah “Lite” have swapped spit and made up.
I also note that $arah’s whining, bitching, threatening stalker behaviour about Joe McGinniss (and that ugly-ass fence that Todd the Cod hammered onto an existing fence) was all a scam, as she’s fishing. As per usual for her High pPieste$$ of the Almighty Dollar, this time of year.
Associated Press
Tuesday, July 6, 2010; 9:19 PM
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Levi Johnston has acknowledged telling lies about Sarah Palin and her family after splitting with the former Alaska governor’s daughter last year.
The 20-year-old tells People magazine in an online story posted Tuesday that since his untrue statements were made in public, “I owe it to the Palins to publicly apologize.”
It’s unclear which statements he was referring to, and Johnston could not immediately be reached for comment.
Johnston tells People he was “unhappy and a little angry” after breaking up with his former fiance, 19-year-old Bristol Palin, after their son’s birth in December 2008. He says that against his better judgment, he said things about the Palins that “were not completely true.”
Johnston says he has also privately apologized to Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, and her husband, Todd.
No need to worry about being off-topic. There’s an open thread every day where anything goes. I just put up a new one, so you’re welcome to post this over there where people can respond. Thanks! AKM
Nice on Super Sugar Crisp!
If this is a double-post, more or less, I apologize. It didn’t look like it went through the first time.
So, when did he lie? The first time around or this time?
I see that the High Prieste$$ and Todd the Cod stapled up that ugly useless fence then vamoosed to Bristol Bay to fish. As is their habit this time of year. Stupid move, Palin. This means the residents will feel free to speak their minds about you (and your family).
Associated Press
Tuesday, July 6, 2010; 9:19 PM
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Levi Johnston has acknowledged telling lies about Sarah Palin and her family after splitting with the former Alaska governor’s daughter last year.
The 20-year-old tells People magazine in an online story posted Tuesday that since his untrue statements were made in public, “I owe it to the Palins to publicly apologize.”
It’s unclear which statements he was referring to, and Johnston could not immediately be reached for comment.
Johnston tells People he was “unhappy and a little angry” after breaking up with his former fiance, 19-year-old Bristol Palin, after their son’s birth in December 2008. He says that against his better judgment, he said things about the Palins that “were not completely true.”
Johnston says he has also privately apologized to Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, and her husband, Todd.