Attorney General Talis Colberg has resigned in the wake of state legislators blasting his performance during the "Troopergate" investigation.
"He just explained that it is a tough environment right now," said Gov. Sarah Palin, who appointed Colberg to the job a little over two years ago.
In an interview with the Daily News this morning, Palin said Colberg did a great job as attorney general. She talked about his background, coming from the private sector and not government, and said he served the state well.
"It is a harsh political environment right now. You saw what he went through these last couple of weeks with speculation that a couple of the lawmakers wanted to continue to grill him, a couple of the lawmakers not believing, it seems, what he had to say," Palin said. "I just hope this political environment doesn't deter others who want to make a positive difference."
Senate Majority Leader Johnny Ellis said the Legislature isn't to blame for the political climate, instead alluding to fallout from Palin's run for vice president.
"We were not the creators of any harsh political environment. That happened because of other people's personal choices and political ambitions at the national level that politicized things to a degree that I'd never seen in Alaska political history," the Anchorage Democrat said.
Ellis said Colberg's resignation creates a sense of relief that maybe the state can move on.
The first thing to realize here is that Talis Colberg was really left with no choice but to resign or face charges of witness tampering which were to be brought forth by the legislature. This was clearly their next step after they voted 16-1 to find Todd Palin and the other nine Palin-bots in contempt last week.
The Legislature decided not to seek punishment for the ten scofflaws which sent a clear signal to Colberg that he was the real target.
If Colberg had not resigned and the Legislature had continued forward with charges of witness tampering it would have forced Governor Palin to either defend her Attorney General and risk taking political damage when the Sate Legislature found him guilty (which there is little doubt they would have), or ask him to resign which would have been an admission by her that he broke the law and would have raised all kinds of questions as to whether the Governor in fact asked him to break the law. (She did.)
So Talis chivalrously draws his sword, places it firmly against his breastbone, and lets gravity do the rest.
For those of us seeking justice up here in the frozen north this counts as a long overdue victory. Another bad guy bites the dust so drinks all around for our heroes and hay for their horses. HUZZAH!
And in honor of Colberg's great and abiding love for Shakespeare (as evidenced by his bizarre use of it in his State of Alaska Department of Law 2008 Annual Report), I offer this homage.
Off with thee Talis of Colberg!
There remains no sand in the hourglass of thy career.
Your noble bloody sacrifice nurtures the Queen,
who now strides forth unscathed from recent conflict.
Thy name shall live forever in infamy,
yet another poor soul who breathed his last
beneath the undercarriage of a bus.
Um, am I missing something or can't he still be charged even though he has resigned?
ReplyDeleteSo, if I steal from my employer and get caught, as long as I then quit they'll leave me alone and not bother calling the law?
Talis needs to be charged and he needs to testify. We need him to tell us under oath just exactly where his marching orders came from.
Great homage!
ReplyDeleteWe are working on it ravenstrick. Trust me we are working on it.
ReplyDeleteThanks BS.
Talis must be taking time off to find a good attorney to defend himself with and to set up a PAC so Sarah can funnel money to him.
ReplyDeletethe deal Senator Stevens & Rep Chenault struck with Palin is completely unethical, no? i mean, is THAT not a flagrant misuse of power?!? doesn't that smack of "good old boy politics" she swore up and down she swept out of Alaska? isn't this the sort of shitty deals Blago was impeached for trying to entice various parties into entering? doesn't this circumvent justice? doesn't this circumvent the IDEALS of elected representatives working on behalf of the PEOPLE WHO ELECTED THEM TO OFFICE???? WTF, dude?
ReplyDeleteGryphen...i gotta tell you...i'm reluctant to suggest the AK legislature is lacking balls when it SEEMS as though the citizen of AK are willing to keep swallowing down mound after mound of shit, and not demand a higher level of accountability from their governor. i know you and every single blogger on your blogroll have the steeliest pair of stones around. god love ya. but what is up with your fellow AK brothers and sisters, man? are they resigned to laying down and being the doormats for which this woman uses to wipe her feet before she plows through the crack left in the door of political opportunity? please tell me the word on the non-blog side of the AK street is they've had enough and their organizing...just throw me a bone, man. something, anything.
WAAAAAAHHHHHHH
ReplyDeleteWhat a big baby. He is criticized by politicians, and quits! Just another example of what a thin-skinned bunch the Palins are.
Or maybe it's because he realized that Palin was palling around with pals of terrorists.
Jen to be honest I am not exactly sure just how much Palin's popularity has fallen in recent weeks. But keep an eye on the Emmonak story it is about to go viral, and THAT is going to cost her dearly.
ReplyDeleteThy homage dost the Bard proud.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Jen, here...I don't get how Palin is still in office...she is more corrupt than Blago, she actually puts him to shame. He was a democratic governor in a blue state with a majority democratic lagislature, and they had no problem getting him out.
ReplyDeleteAre most Alaskans that politically apathetic?