Stretching Conflicts to the Point of Absurdity
According to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Alaska by five Republican
lawmakers to halt an investigation into Gov. Palin's dismissal of the
state's public safety commissioner, elected politicians cannot
investigate the actions of other elected politicians if they have a
political bias, such as giving a campaign contribution to their party's
presidential candidate.<br>
<br>
This is based on <a href="http://www.libertylegal.org/Img/9-15-08%20Alaska%20CH.pdf" target="”_blank”">a
press release</a> on the suit from the Liberty Legal Institute, which
is co-counsel in the suit, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/us/politics/17trooper.html" target="”_blank”">an
article in today's New York Times</a><br>
<br>
These lawmakers apparently believe (or wish others to believe) that
other lawmakers cannot investigate a governor's actions if they are not
entirely impartial. Have you ever met a politician who was entirely
impartial toward another politician?<br>
<br>
It's interesting that an organization devoted to protecting First
Amendment rights is willing to undermine the right to give campaign
contributions (which such organizations consider free speech) by having
this change the individual's status in such a serious manner.<br>
<br>
It should be made clear that the Legislative Council voted on July 28
to begin this investigation, at a time when no one even dreamed that
Gov. Palin would be running for Vice President. And it should also be
made clear that no suit was filed until she became a candidate for Vice
President.<br>
<br>
And since these legislators are taking conflicts into new territory, it should be mentioned that
one of the legislators bringing the suit was, according to the<span> Times</span> article, appointed by Gov.
Palin, and is an elder in her church.<br>
<br>
I should also mention that the suit includes other grounds for the legislators' goal of stopping the investigation, but most of them involve impartiality.<br>
<br>
It makes a mockery of conflicts of interest for legislators to bring
suits such as this. Conflicts should not be political footballs, and
they should not be stretched to the point of absurdity. But have you
ever met a politician who could resist playing with political footballs
or stretching things to the point of absurdity?<br>
<br>
<i>Update</i> (Sept. 21): According to <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0921pagesep21,0,1… column by Clarence Page</a> in today's Chicago Tribune, the investigation was approved by Gov. Palin and was approved unanimously by the Alaska legislature. There was no opposition to it until Gov. Palin was nominated as Vice President.<br>
<br>
</i>For <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10509704?nclick_check=1">ano… recent example</a> of taking conflicts to the point of absurdity, an attorney for a group sponsoring a tax-capping ballot proposition in Nevada has accused a judge (who determined the proposition could not be placed on the ballot) of a conflict because his wife, who retired from teaching five years before, works a few hours a month as a reading consultant and thereby could be harmed by a decrease in tax money to her school district.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
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