ADN article has some good advice for our Governor.

I found this in the Opinion section of today's local newspaper.

Once in a while, usually in the smarmy he-said, she-said fallout from the latest trailer park theatrics, I am left to wonder whether the governor's office has lost its collective mind.

Take, for instance, the "latest complaint deemed outrageous" blurb on the state's official Web site. (If you missed it there, you can take a gander at it over at the state's official Gov. Sarah Palin Web site, which nowadays is difficult to distinguish from the official state site, but that's another story for another time.)

In this case, an Alaskan had the temerity to allege the governor broke state law by signing a contract with SarahPac, a political action committee, outside her official duties. (By law, governors cannot have an outside job.) The complaint also said Palin violated the law when she went to chat it up with a partisan, anti-abortion rights crowd at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life fundraising dinner in Evansville, Ind., to pursue her interests, not the state's.

In its announcement, Palin's office "expressed outrage" over the "baseless ethics complaint." Chief of staff Mike Nizich fumed the allegations are "categorically false and ridiculous." He said Palin has spent tons of money fighting bogus ethics charges. Her mouthpiece, Bill McAllister, warned the complaints against Palin are designed to "paralyze" the executive branch. He's gotta be kiddin', right? This executive branch?

Then, the two of them accused the complainant of hypocrisy, unethical behavior and trying to bury the Department of Law in paper. Good grief.

It turns out that the embattled and lovely Sarah P. -- her nascent national political career dangling over a cliff -- finds herself increasingly under attack, accused of breaking state ethics law more than a dozen times. (Not counting the one she filed against herself during Troopergate to get the Personnel Board, which she appoints, to handle the case.)

Chief of staff Nizich says the pesky complaints are orchestrated by "opponents," offering entrepreneurs yet another T-shirt possibility to go along with "Haters" and "Lying Blogger." Palin has been forced to set up a legal defense fund, the Alaska Fund Trust, to help defray her rising and significant legal costs (and, dang it, that fund itself now is the subject of an ethics complaint despite its high-falootin' name).

In the face of all that, what does she do? Does Palin loose ankle-biter Meghan Stapleton at SarahPac to joust with "opponents" while she retains her dignity as governor and potential president?

Not a chance.

Somebody decides to beef about the SarahPac ethics complaint on an official state Web site. That is your Web site and mine. It belongs to all Alaskans. We pay for it. It is more than a little disturbing that her office, apparently swept up in some kind of vengeful tizzy, would bring to bear state resources to castigate, harangue, insult and accuse individual citizens who make legal complaints.

I'm no lawyer, but state law seems pretty clear: "A public officer may not ... use state time, property, equipment, or other facilities to benefit personal or financial interests. ..." Without much doubt, state time, property, equipment and other facilities were used to toss that hissy.

This much is clear: Politically, things are changing for Palin. The cookies are not working anymore. There are signs of frustration and anger. Writers, pundits and broadcasters see her as the gift that keeps on giving.

People already are wondering whether she will, or should, consider running for governor next year. She could lose. She could just barely win. Either is a career-snuffer. The sins of the first term could come home to roost.

Some say it would be dangerous, even political suicide, for her to run -- and she dare not if she plans a career at the national level. Her role as a GOP fundraiser remains unsettled and her plans for the 2012 presidential race are unfocused.

If she does not start getting better advice from someplace, and making better decisions, none of that will matter. She will end up just another victim of "Saturday Night Live" and the "Tonight Show."

Here's my best and cheapest advice to the governor. Do not let state-paid employees get involved in your personal imbroglios and make fools of themselves -- and you. You are, as governor, supposed to be above the fray. Think Bill Egan. Let somebody else wade in the mud.

And if you or your worker bees are determined to melt down because somebody says you broke the law, for crying out loud don't abuse the law to make your point.

I'll send the bill later.

Paul Jenkins is former editor of the Voice of the Times.