Ethics & Party Politics

As a huge Al Pacino fan it doesn’t get much better than his role in “Scent of a Woman”. It’s impossible not to shiver when Pacino’s character, Lt. Col. Frank Slade, slams his white tipped cane on the table and shouts “If I were half the man I was five years ago I’d take a flamethrower to this place”.

His Oscar winning performance represented a real life metaphor about a power structure that attempts to rationalize and institutionalize the quid pro quo. And although Channel 2’s News Director John Tracy’s recent editorial wasn’t as dramatic as Pacino, his rare appearance certainly was.

Abraham Lincoln recognized it while giving a toast in 1856, “Our government rests in public opinion”. Less than a century later, W.C. Fields put his personal twist on Lincoln’s words when he toasted, “I never vote for anybody, I always vote against”.

Ahh, Public opinion, a politician’s worst best friend.

It’s hard not to notice that Governor Murkowski’s Chief of Staff has quickly assumed one of the highest public profiles of any chief of staff in recent Alaskan political history. He’s been a dominant figure at press conferences and his opinion pieces, defending the Governor’s actions, have been published in newspapers from Fairbanks to Juneau.

It’s almost like Ed McMahon has stepped in front of Johnny Carson.

Welcome to the winter of our discontent. Just ask Jim Elkins.

The almost state senator from Ketchikan received a fatal dose of caucus discipline after he stepped too far from the party line. The response was swift, the punishment was extreme and the damage control was deplorable.

There’s an old saying in politics, if you want a friend get a dog.

Three months before the 1960 presidential election between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy, outgoing President Eisenhower was asked at a press conference if he could name one initiative proposed by his fellow Republican Nixon that was enacted during the eight-year years of his administration.

I believe the word we’re looking for is hubris.

Ancient Greeks coined the phrase and illustrated the affects in Greek tragedies and mythology. It was their way of showcasing how those given the gift of power were often brought down by their own arrogance.

All is not joyous in Juneau this holiday season. As for the second Christmas in a row one of Gov. Frank Murkowski’s hand picked consiglieres has crashed through the state’s ethical guardrails. Coal this Christmas appears eminent.

Alaska’s Attorney General Gregg Renkes stands accused of violating state ethics laws. Some have called for an investigation into possible insider trading violations as well. The accusations surround a resource development project he pushed for a Denver based coal company.