Palin's new AG pick for Alaska

Another important appointment, this time at the state level. Palin appointed Dan Sullivan (no, not THAT Dan Sullivan) as AG. I don't know much about him either, but the Anchorage Daily News has a few bios up about him.

If you remember, the last AG pick, Wayne Anthony Ross, of Palin's was strongly protested by Native organizations (and LOTS of other people) because of his views about, well, an awful lot of things, but namely subsistence and ANCSA. Sullivan looks to have a pretty strong resume, but I haven't heard much else yet. He does seem to have a few (positive) Native in working with Native corporations (?) and looks like his wife is Native. From the articles:

He helped ensure that the new NSPD strategy focused on all of the core issues relating to the Arctic, including: developing the region’s vast resources; protecting the environment; promoting safe, secure and reliable transportation; and respecting the culture and way of life of indigenous peoples...

His practice focused on corporate transactions and commercial litigation, and he represented a variety of clients, including Alaska small businesses and Native corporations...

He has been married for almost 15 years to Julie Fate Sullivan of Fairbanks, who is a Doyon shareholder...

Sullivan's wife, Julie, is the daughter of former state representative Hugh Fate of Fairbanks and Mary Jane Fate, who is a former co-chairwoman of the Alaska Federation of Natives and was also on the University of Alaska board of Regents.

So, I guess another wait-and-see!

Obama's first 100 days - whaddya think?

As Obama hits his first 100 days, well, don't know that I'm exactly qualified to be judging his job, but for the issues I care most about, pretty good job. "A" for effort, certainly.

One thing I had hoped he would have by now is one of his campiagn promises to Indian country -a Native senior advisor. I figured he'd have this position filled within the 100 days - and certainly before the puppy situation was settled! I'm sure there's a lot of top positions yet to be filled, but I'm ready for the names to stop dangling in front of me (including two Alaska Native women!) and for the position to be filled! There's some good opportunities slipping by...

Still, Obama has had some Native history made already, in his first 100 days, so I suppose I should stop my complaining. From a record increase in the Indian Health Services budget to the first Native woman appointed to the top position at IHS, there's some looking up in that area. And he's not just appointing Native people to jobs serving other Native people - he's appointed some big Native guns to positions across the administration.


TAKE THE POLL TO THE RIGHT TO GIVE OBAMA YOUR OWN GRADE!
Quick and easy!

And some other Native and/or Obama first 100 days bits:



Tribal leaders attend planting of organic garden at the USDA.

Meetings in Indian country about economic stimulus (Indian Country Today,) as well as the National Congress of the American Indians page/Web site about it.

Sec. of the Interior Salazar announces $500 million for tribes in stimulus. (RezNet)

Polls on the first 100 days are pretty good for Obama, except for the torture memo thing (from the Washington Post.)

Huffington Post's collection of articles, photos on his first 100 days.

Impressive, not impressive... WTF?!

Such was my reaction to the ongoing news today.

Impressive - Ken Salazar.
(from the Anchorage Daily News)

Not impressive - Palin rural advisor John Moller
(from the Fairbanks Daily News Miner)

WTF?! - Palin's latest action regarding her appointment craziness.
(from the ADN)

And I do mean crazy.

Mudflats and Celtic Diva do the best job of summing this up, I think, but let me sum up the Palin madness of late. This being just ONE of the issues she's seem to gone nutty over lately.

State Sen. Kim Elton took a job with the Obama administration, so it's up to Palin to appoint a new senator, which the democratic senators must confirm. The dems only submitted one name to her as a suggestion, a state representative who has spoken out against Palin's actions in the past.

Palin ignores this, and appoints a man who was registered as a republican until just a few weeks before. Naturally, the dems reject him. The Juneau dems submit FOUR names to Palin for consideration. Palin ignores this, and appoints a nice, unknown guy who has never run for public office. Naturally, the dems reject him.

The craziness took a whole new turn today, when Palin, who, by law, must appoint ONE person, "submits" three names to the dems. Just in this, she's not following the law. Need more crazy? TWO of the names are of people the dems have already rejected. The third person is yet another unknown, yet ANOTHER guy who wasn't even registered as a democrat until last month!

Mudflats and Celtic Diva do a better job of how many legal issues (not even taking in the ethical ones!) Palin caused with this latest, most bizarre act.

One of the more mind-numbing parts of this to me is why Palin is getting so frustrated for the dems not choosing her strange choices to represent Juneau, when she's never come up with a good reason for why she's not choosing any of the names the dems submitted. Why are her choices for a voice for Juneau more qualified than those the dems are submitting?

The people of Juneau voted, they voted democrat, and by law they need a democratic replacement. TWO of the names she's submitted weren't even democrats until March. With the end of the legislative session just days away, they have had no voice this session. WTF?

For the other two issues I was following today - or at least heard about - Salazar and Moller.

I removed the embedded video because it automatically started playing a commercial every time the blog was opened... annoying. So, here's the first of the two-part interview KTUU did of Salazar. For the second part, click here, or visit the KTUU site (they have some other coverage as well.)

Ken Salazar is the new Secretary for the Interior. He was up here to talk about oil (and this is the big reason Alaskans care about him right now) and offshore drilling, visiting Dillingham and Anchorage.

Although I'm SURE there's many thousands of Alaskans who will not agree with me here, it was gratifying to see how many Alaskans do. His visit to Dillingham was overwhelmed with local opposition to offshore drilling, and many, many Native people stood up to make sure he knew they opposed it.

So many times we hear the big voices with lots of money behind them, including many Native corporation voices, who are all for drilling and profit. I can understand these positions - jobs and revenue, building communities (though not as much as you'd think) and... well, more money.

But rarely is the local voice heard with much volume, and I'm very glad Salazar took the time to head to Dillingham. He made a point of saying the Dillingham trip was his desire and idea, to visit a rural location (you know, the people who will feel the NEGATIVE effects of oil accidents - because Anchorage sure won't) and hear what they had to say. I cringed to hear him say the ANWR bit (it's not going to happen,) NOT because I support drilling in ANWR, but because I knew at that moment about half of Alaska shut their ears to him. He had some intelligent things to say, very well thought out.

I've had some hope for this guy, as I was down in Colorado where he presented local Native tribes to open up the Democratic National Convention. Because, though I do have interest in the oil part of his job, like all Alaskans, he's also the Secretary over the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I was a little disappointed he didn't get to visit any Native sites or organizations up here, but I'm more glad he crammed Dillingham AND Anchorage into his "one city" visit. I just hope he'll come back to take a look at what we're doing with Native issues, health care, culture, social services, etc. up here soon.

For Moller... sigh.

This is the guy Palin appointed as her rural advisor, and I had some hope as he "describes himself as Alaskan Native" (I don't know what that means) and comes from rural Alaska.

I won't say much about his lackluster interview with the Fairbanks Daily News Miner on Sunday, because most of it was a lot of "I'm not really going to answer that question with anything but 'we'll see.'"

But his subsistence answer was strange to me:

Q: What about subsistence issues?
A: AFN (Alaska Federation of Natives) has had a position on subsistence. It doesn’t align with our constitution. If it’s going to be addressed, it needs to be addressed as a whole, the Legislature and the administration — that’s if it’s going to be addressed.

Uhh....

First... that's not an answer. Second, why are we bringing up the AFN stance? Natives don't all get a vote in the AFN, so it's not the end-all or be-all for Native people. It's an important organization for sure, but ask the average Joe Native what AFN's stance is on subsistence and 9 out of 10 wouldn't be able to tell you. Third... I don't even understand what the last part of that answer means!

So it's snowing on Easter, the volcano is still erupting, earthquakes are shaking my house, and Alaska politics are doing the impossible - getting even nuttier.

Is there a nice, boring state I can hide out in for awhile? Just until I'm sure we're not getting sucked into some wierd 8th dimension of a black hole? Anyone?

_

Another Palin appointment criticism

Palin is drawing criticism for yet another appointment. Her appointment of Brent Johnson to the state Board of Fisheries goes against the norm of what governors have been doing since Hickel:

From the Juneau Empire article:

John Blair of Sitka... said Johnson's appointment raises two important concerns: It would leave Interior Alaska without representation, and it does not correct the current lack of Alaska Native representation on the board.

The "Alaska Native representation" part has been a concern for quite a while.

Native groups vote to oppose Palin's AG pick

From the ADN rural blog, The Village:
AFN votes to oppose Ross appointment

AFN is the Alaska Federation of Natives - Native representatives from all around the state.The Association of Village Council Presidents also voted to oppose the appointment - Western Alaska representatives (the area you may have heard about lately with fuel shortages.)

In case you need a catch up - Palin appointed Wayne Anthony Ross to the attorney general position. Anti-sovereignty, anti-subsistence (not to mention very anti-gay,) Ross seems to be the last straw in Palin's long series of decisions against strong Native issues.

Yet she's never one to disappoint me with her irony. In her statement about Ross:

Now more than ever, it is essential that Alaska’s sovereignty be protected...

Alaska sovereignty good. Native sovereignty - eh, not so much. It's almost like she can't help but mention those key words that make it so ironic. Native attorney Heather Kendall-Miller on Palin:

Heather Kendall-Miller, a Native American Rights Fund attorney in Anchorage, said Palin picked an attorney general that represents her values rather than the most qualified person. She said it reflects more on Palin than on Ross.

"She's shown no interest in trying to work with the Native community on important issues of subsistence or tribal sovereignty."

The Village post cites another 1997 ADN article about Alaskan Indian country. Ross' quote about Native sovereignty:

''It's a giant leap backwards into the 19th century,'' said Anchorage attorney Wayne Anthony Ross, who represented sport hunters in the 1989 lawsuit that overturned as unconstitutional the state's subsistence preference for rural residents. ''They want to see Alaska balkanized into little fiefdoms where these self-proclaimed Native leaders will reign supreme with help from the Great White Father.''

The Great White Father? Can we at least try and pretend we didn't learn everything we know about Native sovereignty from old John Wayne movies?

The argument from Ross now that all this is out is that those comments he made on anti-soereignty, anti-subsistence were from another time. Not to mention that the anti-subsistence stance is that is wasn't anti-subsistence, but "pro-constitutional." Furthermore, these issues aren't as big a deal as they were.

Uh...

Only if you've had your head in the sand for the last couple years.

Palin's asserts that the protests are from a "few" vocal critics who may have a "different opinion."

First - it's not just a "few." Two major Alaska Native groups have now voted to oppose her appointment (and more individuals have spoken out), and though I don't know the vote count, I'm willing to bet it wasn't close.

Second - subsistence and sovereignty issues are not idle opinions about things that barely touch these people's lives. It's not an opinion about whether or not your favorite American Idol guy is better. It's an entire way of life.

Her response reminded me of (non-Native) friends that, once we were talking politics, said, "You always bring up the Native issues. We aren't talking about Native issues."

It's only outside the comfort of my own home and family that it becomes "Native issues." Within, it's just life. It's the stuff that makes up every day, not some subsect of my life.

I'm glad that these Native groups and leaders are finally taking a stand on the increasingly anti-rural break the government is taking... not that it was ever really "pro-rural." As even the Native groups say, they don't think there's a real chance he won't get affirmed, but there's a point that comes when you have to say enough is enough.

Former Rural Advisor on the "why"

Great piece in the Alaska Dispatch about former Palin rural advisor Rhonda McBride - actually, it's really just a reponse from McBride about why she left, what that position needs, etc.

When McBride left the position last October, she let it be known that an Alaska Native person should have the position. Palin filled the position this month - I don't know much about the new rural advisor, but he was a big fisheries manager and the Daily News said he "describes himself" as Alaska Native - Aleut. Kind of wierd wording, but whatever. Hopefully, he'll do a job...

From the article:

My defining moment came last summer while on a boat trip down the Koyukuk. One of my fellow travelers, who is an Alaska Native, asked me if I had ever cut fish. And I said, "No. When I lived in Bethel, people always shared their fish with me. They were so kind and generous. So I never learned to put up fish." She laughed and said, "Imagine that. A rural adviser who doesn't know how to subsist." The remark wasn't meant to be unkind, but the power of it was a turning point for me.

Also, in the course the job, I came to meet many Natives who were more qualified than me for the job. Not only do they know how to subsist, but they have degrees from Ivy League schools. There is a generation of leaders coming up that will make whatever organization they join better. Our world will be better for them. They're strong in their culture, wise beyond their years, and so knowledgeable about their professions.