All men (and women) created equal - and able to equally become stupid criminals

I read Julie O'Malley's column (in the Anchorage Daily News) on the Masek sentencing last week, and it's been a point of discussion with several friends. Beverly Masek was an Alaskan representative convicted on corruption charges in the string of corruption investigations, indictments and convictions to hit the state in recent years, the most notable of them being Sen. Ted Stevens. Besides ol' Uncle Ted, I haven't commented on many of them, but Masek's I have, and she still continues to irk me.

Masek is Native, but that part isn't what bothers me either. Okay, that part does too, but not primarily. What bothers me is Masek seems to be so willing to play up the poor Native villager victimhood, instead of truly owning up, and genuinly making a stab at bettering herself. Or as O'Malley put it, "The defense was reaching for heart-strings, playing a cloying victim tune. But it relied on a musty stereotype about Native women I don't buy."

I know many Native women from rural Alaska. Despite whatever past so many of them had, despite what challenges they faced coming to the city, the ones I admire most are the ones who played on the strength of their ties to the village, not excused their behavior with it. They are the ones who took their past and heritage in hand and learned from it, leaned on it, were proud of it - and, actions big or small, could be proud of their present, too.

And let's not forget Ms. Masek signed up for the job. It's hard to sell the victim part when you literally campaigned to get the gig.

The offensive part isn't that she's Native and committed a crime (poorly done crime at that.) If anything, it shows how equally stupid people can be, no matter their heritage. What's offensive is that Masek and these lawyers are leaning on the "weakness" of her rural ties to prove she deserves to be pitied, not punished.

If Masek really believes her ties to rural Alaska created a weakness in her character, and that what she learned and experienced there were the cause of her criminality, I think she does deserve to be pitied. But she's also a criminal, and until she can show a willingness to change, the only thing left to do is punish so her bad example can at least be made an example of what not to do.

How do you know Natives are people just like everyone else?

Masek to plead guilty to conspiracy

Because a Native representative can be just as corrupt as the white/black/whatever guy next to him.

Or her, as it were.

All right, that's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but not a good day for Alaskans. In something like 72 hours, we've sentenced one and will be accepting a plea from another of the infamous "Corrupt Bastards Club."

For the fortunatley un-enlightened, the Corrupt Bastards Club was a name many of our fine republican lawmakers took on when they decided to take ridiculously small amounts of cash (I mean really, a couple thousand dollars for your soul? At least give us the respect of selling out the voters of this state for a bigger amount!) from the now defunct/renamed Veco.

Maybe there is some satisfaction in "getting justice" or something, but really, I'm so over the whole thing. I would MUCH rather we not have had these politicians come into power and wasted our time and money in the first place. From the Anchorage Daily News article:

Prosecutors wrote that they expect Masek to plead for a further reduction in her sentence, citing "alcoholism, financial and emotional distress, and/or situational depression due to her divorce..."

The guilty plea would be the sixth conviction of a lawmaker and the 11th overall obtained by the government in the FBI's massive investigation of corruption in Alaska.

But ah well, I hope somebody somewhere is learning a lesson here. I hope... Anyone?

Though it does look like Masek has taken a page from the Cowdery defense - show up with some ailments and you might just get six months at home instead of jail time.

For those that haven't followed the Alaskan political circus that has been our government the last several years, I guide you to this handy page from the Alaska Report. The front page of the Alaska Report keeps the tally, "Feds: 11, CBC 0." Many, many more to come. Other "unnamed" states may have the "quality" corruption of major craziness and the pinnacle of sleaziness right now, but what we lack in quality, we're sure making up for in quantity.

Ok, I'm trying to get over the tongue in cheek thing.

But I really am tired of the whole thing. This last one, I am really trying to see it as a loss for the Native community, but Masek never lifted a finger for Native interests, so I think it's just a loss for ... uh... hold on.

I'll get back to you on that one.

Really, I can at least point to this as an example of why you just don't take "any Native," or "any republican" or... for crying out loud, look at their resume at least! I don't vote for any person because of their race, or who they're married to, nor do I assume that because of that race or relationship, they will act in the interest of that people group. I have proudly supported Native candidates because of what they've done, and what they represent. I have proudly supported non-Native candidates for the same reason. This woman wasn't representing Native people, but the point is she wasn't representing anyone except herself.

Maybe my more cynically tinted point is, if corruption can reach anyone at any level, regardless of their race, can we also assume the reverse is true, and excellence, honor and pride can reach anyone at any level, regardless of their race?

I'm going to bed.