The governor is feeling picked on, again

Frontiersman editorial board

Listening to the weekly laments coming from Juneau and organizations around the state, you might get the impression that many of Alaska's politicians and public officials share DNA with Charlie Brown. "Why is everybody always picking on me?" seems to be a common mantra emanating from official channels these days.

A recent editorial released the by governor's office, and signed by Gov. Frank Murkowski, begins with the sentence, "Editorial writers have criticized my veto of $12.45 million for the purchase of Native corporation land on Northern Afognak Island near Kodiak." It's a long opinion piece that, judging by the lead, was primarily penned to fend off the attacks of rabid editorial writers.

The assumption, as often is the case, is that editorial writers are card-carrying members of the infamous "liberal press," and are bent upon crucifying well-meaning conservatives at every opportunity. For that reason, many conservative politicians and other officials are able to defend their policies by publicly assuming the press is guided by motives other than reason. Humbug.

At least when editorial writers put pen to paper, they write in clear language that attacks the logic and motivation behind decisions that affect our communities. Listen to the rationalization behind many of those policy decisions, and you're likely to need a dose of Dramamine to ward off the dizziness of the circular logic and the spin that now seems requisite to political speak.

In the aforementioned opinion piece, the governor argues that the use of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill settlement money to purchase Native corporation land would be morally wrong -- because, "Long after the Sound has healed its wounds, the native land will be lost forever to their native heritage, and the dollars spent." It's the argument Murkowski makes well earlier in the column that seems more telling, however. Arguing that the use of EVOS funds would turn more of Alaska over to the Federal Government, the governor wonders, "How much is enough?" While defending Native heritage out of one side of his mouth, Murkowski is using the other side to tell Alaskan Natives to whom they may sell their own land.

As is often the case with this administration, the bottom line here is not heritage nor some moral imperative, but ownership of resources. It's a question of language, again. Officials like to blame the press for picking their words apart and subjecting them to intense scrutiny. The best way to avoid that is to choose words that travel in straight lines and to speak in sentences that don't hide in the shadows.