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.
Showing posts with label Talis Colberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Talis Colberg. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Friday, February 06, 2009
The Alaska Senate finds Todd Palin and nine other members of the Governor's inner circle guilty of contempt. And then refuses to act on it. WTF?
Okay here are the pertinent findings from Senate Resolution No.5.
No. 1) On July 28, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously authorized an investigation into the firing of Walt Monegan.
No. 2) On September 12, 2008, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas to witnesses in the case.
No. 3) A few days later the subpoenas for Todd Palin, Randy Ruaro, and Ivy Frye were all served on their respective attorneys, and the subpoenas required Mr. Palin, Mr. Ruaro, and Ms. Frye to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 19, 2008.
No. 4) On September 19, 2008, Todd Palin, Randy Ruaro, and Ivy Frye failed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
No. 5) Assistant Attorney General Michael Barnhill promised the cooperation of the witnesses represented by the Department of Law (Annette Kreitzer, Dianne Kiesel, Nicki Neal, Brad Thompson, Michael Nizich, Kris Perry, and Janice Mason), and Mr. Branchflower agreed not to serve the subpoenas and began scheduling depositions of the witnesses.
No 6) Three days later, on September 16, 2008, that written promise of cooperation was countermanded by a letter from the Attorney General (Talis Colberg) demanding that the subpoenas be withdrawn.
No. 7) The subpoenas were then served on the seven witnesses represented by the Department of Law, requiring that they appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 26, 2008.
No. 8) On September 25, 2008, the Department of Law filed a lawsuit on behalf of Annette Kreitzer, Dianne Kiesel, Nicki Neal, Brad Thompson, Michael Nizich, Kris Perry, and Janice Mason, asking the court to declare invalid the subpoenas issued by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
No. 9) On September 26, 2008, Annette Kreitzer, Dianne Kiesel, Nikki Neal, Brad Thompson, Michael Nizich, Kris Perry, and Janice Mason failed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in compliance with the subpoenas that had been served on them.
No.10) On October 2, 2008, Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski dismissed the Department of Law's suit, finding that "AS 24.25.010 gives the legislature and the Senate Judiciary Committee's subpoena power" and that there had been "no due process or fair and just treatment violation" of anyone's rights.
No. 11) On October 5, 2008, written interrogatories were sent to the seven witnesses who had failed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 26, 2008, as well as to Todd Palin, Randy Ruaro, and Ivy Frye.
No.12) On October 10, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously adopted a motion stating that witnesses had "submitted responses to the interrogatories, thereby aiding the investigation".
Okay are you still with me? Good.
To sum it up. The Senate Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas for these ten Palin people. Attorney General Talis Colberg said "Don't worry you don't have to honor these subpoenas because I am going to file a lawsuit to stop them". While the case was still pending the date for honoring the subpoenas came and went. Then Judge Michalski said, "Colberg, you jackass, you have no legal right to tell those individuals to ignore a subpoena issued by the Judiciary Committee!" And threw the lawsuit out. And then Colberg said "Oh you want them to testify? Why didn't you just say so? Of course they can testify!" And the witnesses then provided testimony as Branchflower was just wrapping up his report.
And now the Alaska Senate has found that these ten people who followed Talis Colberg's advice are in contempt. Which of course may mean jail time or fines for these ten scofflaws. But the Senate decides that just telling them they were naughty is good enough. "Bad Palin-bots, bad!"
But that is definitely NOT good enough!
They defied an order from the Alaska Judiciary. They are lawbreakers. That means they fucking get punished. And if they don't, what kind of signal does that send to the next person who receives a subpoena from the Judiciary? "Oh never mind, these pussies never follow through with ANYTHING!" Or does that only work if you are married to, working for, or BFF's with the Governor? Jesus Christ!
Okay fine, then don't punish them.
But surely the person who TOLD them to break the law is going to be punished! Please tell me that Talis Colberg should be getting his affairs in order and preparing to spend a couple of months, or a year, walking to the showers with a "soap on a rope" around his neck!
Just don't fucking tell me that these people get to flaunt the law and get away with it because our State Senators are afraid of Caribou Barbie! Don't tell me that there is not enough backbone among our State Legislators to stand up to this tiny woman.
I am trying to find a reason to be proud of my state Government, give me something!
No. 1) On July 28, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously authorized an investigation into the firing of Walt Monegan.
No. 2) On September 12, 2008, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas to witnesses in the case.
No. 3) A few days later the subpoenas for Todd Palin, Randy Ruaro, and Ivy Frye were all served on their respective attorneys, and the subpoenas required Mr. Palin, Mr. Ruaro, and Ms. Frye to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 19, 2008.
No. 4) On September 19, 2008, Todd Palin, Randy Ruaro, and Ivy Frye failed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
No. 5) Assistant Attorney General Michael Barnhill promised the cooperation of the witnesses represented by the Department of Law (Annette Kreitzer, Dianne Kiesel, Nicki Neal, Brad Thompson, Michael Nizich, Kris Perry, and Janice Mason), and Mr. Branchflower agreed not to serve the subpoenas and began scheduling depositions of the witnesses.
No 6) Three days later, on September 16, 2008, that written promise of cooperation was countermanded by a letter from the Attorney General (Talis Colberg) demanding that the subpoenas be withdrawn.
No. 7) The subpoenas were then served on the seven witnesses represented by the Department of Law, requiring that they appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 26, 2008.
No. 8) On September 25, 2008, the Department of Law filed a lawsuit on behalf of Annette Kreitzer, Dianne Kiesel, Nicki Neal, Brad Thompson, Michael Nizich, Kris Perry, and Janice Mason, asking the court to declare invalid the subpoenas issued by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
No. 9) On September 26, 2008, Annette Kreitzer, Dianne Kiesel, Nikki Neal, Brad Thompson, Michael Nizich, Kris Perry, and Janice Mason failed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in compliance with the subpoenas that had been served on them.
No.10) On October 2, 2008, Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski dismissed the Department of Law's suit, finding that "AS 24.25.010 gives the legislature and the Senate Judiciary Committee's subpoena power" and that there had been "no due process or fair and just treatment violation" of anyone's rights.
No. 11) On October 5, 2008, written interrogatories were sent to the seven witnesses who had failed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 26, 2008, as well as to Todd Palin, Randy Ruaro, and Ivy Frye.
No.12) On October 10, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously adopted a motion stating that witnesses had "submitted responses to the interrogatories, thereby aiding the investigation".
Okay are you still with me? Good.
To sum it up. The Senate Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas for these ten Palin people. Attorney General Talis Colberg said "Don't worry you don't have to honor these subpoenas because I am going to file a lawsuit to stop them". While the case was still pending the date for honoring the subpoenas came and went. Then Judge Michalski said, "Colberg, you jackass, you have no legal right to tell those individuals to ignore a subpoena issued by the Judiciary Committee!" And threw the lawsuit out. And then Colberg said "Oh you want them to testify? Why didn't you just say so? Of course they can testify!" And the witnesses then provided testimony as Branchflower was just wrapping up his report.
And now the Alaska Senate has found that these ten people who followed Talis Colberg's advice are in contempt. Which of course may mean jail time or fines for these ten scofflaws. But the Senate decides that just telling them they were naughty is good enough. "Bad Palin-bots, bad!"
But that is definitely NOT good enough!
They defied an order from the Alaska Judiciary. They are lawbreakers. That means they fucking get punished. And if they don't, what kind of signal does that send to the next person who receives a subpoena from the Judiciary? "Oh never mind, these pussies never follow through with ANYTHING!" Or does that only work if you are married to, working for, or BFF's with the Governor? Jesus Christ!
Okay fine, then don't punish them.
But surely the person who TOLD them to break the law is going to be punished! Please tell me that Talis Colberg should be getting his affairs in order and preparing to spend a couple of months, or a year, walking to the showers with a "soap on a rope" around his neck!
Just don't fucking tell me that these people get to flaunt the law and get away with it because our State Senators are afraid of Caribou Barbie! Don't tell me that there is not enough backbone among our State Legislators to stand up to this tiny woman.
I am trying to find a reason to be proud of my state Government, give me something!
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Talis of Colberg doth savagely rip the Bard asunder to pluck glittering gems for which to festoon bovine excrement most foul.
If you click the title it will take you to The State of Alaska Department of Law 2008 Annual Report. (You may have to hurry as we do not expect access to this report to remain available for long. But in case it does disappear fear not for I have copied the introduction below. And then provided the Immoral Minority "translations", doncha know?)
December 2008
Dear Governor Palin, Alaska Legislators and Fellow Alaskans,
Shakespeare, in the play Henry V provides the ultimate team-building speech for King Henry in what is now known as the “St. Crispin’s Day” speech. The real King Henry V may or may not have given a rousing speech to his outnumbered army on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt in 1215 ( I got totally hammered the night before this lecture on Elizabethan literature and do not fully remember the lesson), but as with so much, fact has become conflated with myth (It is all just confusing bullshit anyway.)—and the result is inspiration. I think we have an inspiring story to tell, based largely on facts.
In 1959 our team was smaller. The Department of Law was six attorneys (including Attorney General John Rader). Now we are about five hundred fifty two. Nearly a hundred-fold increase in the same fifty-year period that the rest of the population increased by only six times. Oddly enough, although we are far more numerous than we were in 1959, we often still feel outnumbered. Our civil attorneys are divided into thirteen sections and our criminal division is spread over thirteen offices. There is no community where the criminal division is not outnumbered by local public defenders, the Office of Public Advocacy, and the private defense bar. Likewise, while the outside world sees the civil division as a monolith, it is in fact divided into small sections, all of which are likewise outnumbered by opposing counsel. However, there is a sense of cohesion and team unity that is both pleasant and effective throughout the department. How can we have grown so large and still find ourselves constantly trying to keep up?
In his book The Richness of Life (Another really hard book I read which proves that I am awesomely smart.), science writer Stephen Jay Gould observed:
Most knowledgeable students of life’s history have always sensed the failure of the fossil record to supply the most desired ingredient of Western comfort: a clear signal of progress measured as some form of steadily increasing complexity for life as a whole through time. The basic evidence cannot support such a view. (In other words the theory of Evolution does not work!)
Gould was not writing about law. However, lawyers are perceived to be a major source increasing complexity in the modern world and some legitimately reason that legal complexity may not be progress. Lawyers often stand in the way of the appealing simple solutions. Our job is in part to uphold the law and at the same time not lose the confidence of the public in doing so. (Nailed it!) We don’t write the laws, but we are charged with trying to make sense of them and enforce them. It is a tough, but honorable, job.
As Henry said in his speech, “The fewer men [Shakespeare did not go out of his way to anticipate the advancement of women], the greater share of honour.” Tell that to the Collections Section—that it is a greater honor because you have fewer colleagues? The point is, that the Department of Law does a lot and does it honorably and can be proud of it.
Henry called on his team to look to the future:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors
And say, ‘Tomorrow is Saint Crispian.’
(Finally I get the chance to use some of that "literature" they made me memorize at Pepperdine.)
Well, maybe the staff at the Department of Law will not commemorate their service to the state with a yearly vigil and declare, “I was there when…” but they have reason to. (Our fat overpaid staff are totally like the Saints Crispin and Crispinia, who were tortured and beheaded for their Chrisitan faith. The metaphor fits like a glove.)
In his conclusion, Henry declares:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers [and sisters] (My boss is a chick);
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Brought into a modern Alaskan translation, “Those poor attorneys who have never known the privilege of standing in the ranks of the Department of Law during the Fiftieth Year of Statehood will think themselves accursed.” (Working for the Department of Law during the first fifty years of Statehood is the bomb fo shizzle. Anybody working here after that is totally whack.)
We (relatively) few. We happy few.
Sincerely,
Talis J. Colberg
Attorney Genera
(Now THAT is tight writing! It is almost as well done as the dissertation I wrote at UAA called "M.D. Snodgrass: The Founder of the Alaska State Fair".)
God what a pompous windbag this guy is! And the fact that he attempts to disguise his incompetence and lack of ethical moorings by using Shakespearean references is almost reason enough to demand that he be removed from office without the addition of his numerous ethical violations. Clearly he has more in common with disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich then simply sharing a room with him at Pepperdine University. (Wow! How proud do you think that school is right about now? I bet they are scrubbing these names off their alumni list as fast as they can)
December 2008
Dear Governor Palin, Alaska Legislators and Fellow Alaskans,
Shakespeare, in the play Henry V provides the ultimate team-building speech for King Henry in what is now known as the “St. Crispin’s Day” speech. The real King Henry V may or may not have given a rousing speech to his outnumbered army on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt in 1215 ( I got totally hammered the night before this lecture on Elizabethan literature and do not fully remember the lesson), but as with so much, fact has become conflated with myth (It is all just confusing bullshit anyway.)—and the result is inspiration. I think we have an inspiring story to tell, based largely on facts.
In 1959 our team was smaller. The Department of Law was six attorneys (including Attorney General John Rader). Now we are about five hundred fifty two. Nearly a hundred-fold increase in the same fifty-year period that the rest of the population increased by only six times. Oddly enough, although we are far more numerous than we were in 1959, we often still feel outnumbered. Our civil attorneys are divided into thirteen sections and our criminal division is spread over thirteen offices. There is no community where the criminal division is not outnumbered by local public defenders, the Office of Public Advocacy, and the private defense bar. Likewise, while the outside world sees the civil division as a monolith, it is in fact divided into small sections, all of which are likewise outnumbered by opposing counsel. However, there is a sense of cohesion and team unity that is both pleasant and effective throughout the department. How can we have grown so large and still find ourselves constantly trying to keep up?
In his book The Richness of Life (Another really hard book I read which proves that I am awesomely smart.), science writer Stephen Jay Gould observed:
Most knowledgeable students of life’s history have always sensed the failure of the fossil record to supply the most desired ingredient of Western comfort: a clear signal of progress measured as some form of steadily increasing complexity for life as a whole through time. The basic evidence cannot support such a view. (In other words the theory of Evolution does not work!)
Gould was not writing about law. However, lawyers are perceived to be a major source increasing complexity in the modern world and some legitimately reason that legal complexity may not be progress. Lawyers often stand in the way of the appealing simple solutions. Our job is in part to uphold the law and at the same time not lose the confidence of the public in doing so. (Nailed it!) We don’t write the laws, but we are charged with trying to make sense of them and enforce them. It is a tough, but honorable, job.
As Henry said in his speech, “The fewer men [Shakespeare did not go out of his way to anticipate the advancement of women], the greater share of honour.” Tell that to the Collections Section—that it is a greater honor because you have fewer colleagues? The point is, that the Department of Law does a lot and does it honorably and can be proud of it.
Henry called on his team to look to the future:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors
And say, ‘Tomorrow is Saint Crispian.’
(Finally I get the chance to use some of that "literature" they made me memorize at Pepperdine.)
Well, maybe the staff at the Department of Law will not commemorate their service to the state with a yearly vigil and declare, “I was there when…” but they have reason to. (Our fat overpaid staff are totally like the Saints Crispin and Crispinia, who were tortured and beheaded for their Chrisitan faith. The metaphor fits like a glove.)
In his conclusion, Henry declares:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers [and sisters] (My boss is a chick);
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Brought into a modern Alaskan translation, “Those poor attorneys who have never known the privilege of standing in the ranks of the Department of Law during the Fiftieth Year of Statehood will think themselves accursed.” (Working for the Department of Law during the first fifty years of Statehood is the bomb fo shizzle. Anybody working here after that is totally whack.)
We (relatively) few. We happy few.
Sincerely,
Talis J. Colberg
Attorney Genera
(Now THAT is tight writing! It is almost as well done as the dissertation I wrote at UAA called "M.D. Snodgrass: The Founder of the Alaska State Fair".)
God what a pompous windbag this guy is! And the fact that he attempts to disguise his incompetence and lack of ethical moorings by using Shakespearean references is almost reason enough to demand that he be removed from office without the addition of his numerous ethical violations. Clearly he has more in common with disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich then simply sharing a room with him at Pepperdine University. (Wow! How proud do you think that school is right about now? I bet they are scrubbing these names off their alumni list as fast as they can)
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