Goodbye, Alaska — but only for a short while

This is Vic Kohring. I’ve been ordered to prison on June 30 by Chief Judge John Sedwick. You’d think I would be worried sick over my fate for the next 42 months, or as long as it takes to get out on appeal, but I’m not. I have more important things to think about.

The first is that I am concerned for my parents, who are elderly. My father is still active, but hard of hearing and allows people to take advantage of his basic goodness. I feel that since my parents watched over me and made sure I grew up safely, the least I could do is watch over them as they live their senior years. That will be difficult to do from Taft, Calif., a remote desert location.

I wish to say goodbye to all the hundreds of friends, colleagues and family who have supported me and never let me down. From the very first moment almost two years ago when the feds concocted and twisted gifts from an old man into a bribe, my friends have never for one minute abandoned me, let me down or doubted me. For this I’m most grateful.

The machinations of injustice will eventually be exposed and I’ll be exonerated. Another biased judge, eager, over-zealous government lawyers who will stop at nothing to make two plus two look like six, will be known and gradually fade.

How do I know? The evidence is on my side. There are the manipulations by the presiding judge, his bias regarding his wife (whose job I eliminated and whose department budget I cut by millions), his coverup of critical information at sentencing and his denial of more than 80 witnesses who were eager to tell the jury what really happened. And I know what I did. I carelessly allowed a man who I thought was a genuine friend place me in a position, through his lies, where my acceptance of his gifts for my daughter looked like a bribe. But gifts are not a crime. Only the feds could construe it as such. I know I did not take a bribe. My conscience is clear. I also know without a doubt that if an unbiased judge and untainted jury hear my case, I’ll be found innocent.

As I head to a penitentiary near Death Valley, I think about the specifics of my appeal. It’s well on track. My thoughts turn to all the really fine people I’ve met and called friends. I’ve met folks whom I regard to be really moral. They keep their word. They speak the truth. They take care of their debts and families. They inspire my admiration. You know who you are when I write these words. You have been stable, rational, delightful and you have honed my sense of dignity and purpose in life. You, my hard-core friends, I will miss terribly.

Now as I look at government and justice, it appears to me we have a pretty good judicial system despite some men with immoral and malicious intentions who run it. The concept of checks and balances is a theoretical notion that needs a lot of help these days in the real world.

As I enter prison I’ll be committed to two things in the short-run: proving my innocence and gaining my freedom. Then it will be back in the political fray. I have every evidence that the most powerful Anchorage newspapers and television news programs cannot fool all of the people. They can do so for those susceptible to media manipulation for a short time, but even they learn the truth after a while.

To you who have believed in me, helped me and stayed by my side, I shall never end the fight to right the wrong that has been done to me. I don’t need to express remorse or hold my head down because I’ve not stolen, concealed, lied or hurt any single person on earth. The feds have literally taken gifts and turned the matter into a huge criminal case. But it’s insignificant in the long run.

The good people in our community, the people who earn a living in the productive sector, those who make things and run this state are my constituents and neighbors, not politicians or their sycophants. To the wonderful people of Alaska and the Mat-Su, I say adieu, a temporary goodbye. Together we shall once again gaze at Pioneer Peak in all its grandeur when it’s covered with snow and the moon reflects upon it. My role will be to attack the primitive ideas of socialism still prevalent in the envious and idle, and to herald and honor those who live the creative life. (Efforts) to control and dispirit those who would dishonor our freedom and productivity, in and out of government, must cease. I am held temporarily out of this battle. But the “Gentle Giant” will be back!

Vic Kohring represented Wasilla in the Alaska State Legislature from 1995 to 2007. He was convicted in December on federal charges of bribery, conspiracy and attempted extortion. He begins serving a 42-month prison sentence tomorrow.