If you find the Republican Party's moral compass, please return it

Frontiersman editorial board

"Why can't you just be a team player?" So asked a member of Alaska's Republican Party of Sarah Palin. What had Palin done to hurt the team? Had she changed direction and advocated for steep tax increases? Had she suddenly decided to fight against oil exploration in ANWR? No, Sarah's affront to the Republican team was that she displayed a conscience -- she told the truth.

The team player theme runs amok through Alaska's Republican ranks in the Murkowski era. Ask Jim Elkins of Ketchikan, who was appointed by Gov. Frank Murkowski to fill Senate Seat A, and then unappointed when he made comments that led Murkowski to believe Elkins was not a team player. In fact, Elkins had made public comments that were critical of some of Murkowski's budget cuts. Apparently, if you want to play on this team you don't need a bat or ball -- only a rubber stamp.

Palin stepped down from her position on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in January. One of the reasons Palin gave for her resignation was the controversy surrounding former AOGCC commissioner Randy Ruedrich -- a controversy that is now mushrooming into a serious problem for the party. Palin didn't give details at the time of her resignation, and she's not in a position to elaborate much now, but she was instrumental in bringing Ruedrich's indiscretions to light. Perhaps she feared retribution after blowing the whistle. Perhaps she simply couldn't reconcile her own ethical values to those of the current party leadership. Whatever the reason, Palin, who has long been among the party faithful, and who was a Murkowski favorite during the gubernatorial campaign, decided to spill the beans, and then to step down. "Why couldn't she just be a team player?" they wanted to know. It seems Palin prefers to play on a team that plays by the rules. There's no question that she is an ambitious politician who has designs on future success, but it seems she's also driven to get there with clean hands and a clean conscience -- how refreshing.

Ruedrich's story is the one garnering the lion's share of headlines right now, but it's only one example of a political party that seems to have lost its moral compass. Several party members seem to seek out conflicts of interest with an attitude that can only be described as arrogance. The governor's appointing frenzy has placed many unqualified people in important positions, and the upshot seems to be that his resource-development-at-all-costs policy gets a flying carpet ride through what should be a system of checks and balances. One recall is already moving forward. Is the Alaska electorate waking up? Have voters tired of politicians signing promises with one hand while crossing the fingers of the other hand behind their backs? We hope so. Everybody in the state, especially Republicans who still believe in ethical government, owe Sarah Palin a debt of gratitude.