Anchorage Daily News

McCain: Before you woo Palin for vice-president, check her out

Note to Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party: I see that you are giving consideration to our governor, Sarah Palin, for your VP.

Well, before you begin serious consideration, here are some things you should mull over. She's prissy. Her loyalty to Alaska business and industry is suspect since she is endeavoring to give the contract for building the gas pipeline to a foreign country. Instead of Old Glory waving over work camps, the maple leaf will be flapping in the breeze.

Her heart is cold and she lacks compassion for our four-legged friends. Witness: encouraging airplane jockeys to flit around and have a gay old time shooting wolves. And did I mention that she is no friend of our cuddly polar bears, standing in opposition to the federal edict of placing the great magnificent whites on the threatened species list? Also, she's high-handed; she didn't consult the 60 members of the Legislature before firing one of her Cabinet members.

But, notwithstanding, the majority of us blue-eyed Arabs of the North think our Sarah is the best thing to happen to Alaska since sliced bread, or, to state in a more colloquial vein, since the great Nome Gold Rush. We'll gladly keep her.

-- Monty H. Richardson

Seward

Palins right in reaction to threat

All right, I've had enough. Why is it that the Palins should be expected to do nothing if they felt their family was being threatened? I am appalled at how this whole investigation has panned out. Walt Monegan, or anyone for that matter, should have called for trooper Wooten's removal as soon as the acts of impropriety occurred. The union that represents the trooper should also question its decision to support him during these events.

I believe any citizen would react the same way the Palins did in response to a perceived threat. Take away the titles of everyone involved and this situation would appear quite different. A man Tasers a child, illegally shoots a moose and allegedly threatens his in-laws. No news story here, happens all the time in Alaska. Only difference being the culprit ends up riding in the back of a patrol car, not driving it.

-- Robin Ozosky

Wasilla

Treat Stevens as innocent unless a court decides he's not

"Innocent until proven guilty" is how our judicial system is supposed to go, but the reality is that you're guilty until proven innocent. I sympathize greatly with Sen. Ted Stevens. Vic Vickers needs to stop running character assassination ads on TV about Sen. Stevens. Ted Stevens has a constitutional right to be thought of and treated as innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. People of Alaska, please don't lose sight of our constitutional rights.

-- Trevor Stefano

Anchorage Jail East

Anchorage

What is Vickers' next step?

What will Vic Vickers do when he "Takes Back Alaska" -- take it to Florida? Ridiculous.

-- Ralph Beaulieu

Anchorage

Prison's contract phone system both frustrating and expensive

I am an inmate here who has experienced firsthand the many frustrations since the implementation of a contract phone system called Evercom. This is an automated system that requires a live person on the other end of the line to press a number to accept the call. If you are unfortunate enough to have to contact a business that has switched to an automated system, which most have, including the courthouse and many attorneys, the Evercom system automatically terminates the call.

Long-distance calls require the party you wish to contact to set up a prepaid account prior to speaking with anyone long distance who is incarcerated. This service does not come at a bargain basement price, either. For a 20-minute call your family or friends are charged $15. At that rate, many families can not afford to keep in touch with their incarcerated loved ones.

Two dollars per 15-minute local call to the families of inmates? Is this subsidizing the economic stimulus package, or possibly the Alaska energy rebate? This not only affects the families and the inmates trying to reach them, but it will further frustrate an inmate's ability to contact virtually any business or enterprise. Somebody is coming out ahead on this deal, but it sure isn't Alaska inmates, families or the business of this state.

-- Darren S. Teasley

Anchorage Correctional Complex East

Anchorage

'A-D-L' confusing, uninformative title for primary election ballot

In the upcoming primary election, voters will be asked to choose one of three ballots. Unfortunately, the Division of Elections selected a very poor name -- "A-D-L" -- for the ballot containing Democratic candidates. If you want to vote for a Democratic candidate, the "A-D-L" ballot is the one to choose.

The "A-D-L" ballot name is a very poor choice because it is confusing, non descriptive and hard to remember. No one has ever heard of the "A-D-L" acronym. In contrast, the name of the ballot on which Republican candidates will appear is the "Republican ballot," which is easily recognizable and understood by the voters. The disparity in names creates an unfair advantage for the Republican candidates when voters are deciding which ballot to select. The "A-D-L" ballot does not contain the word "Democrat" or "Democratic," which puts Democratic candidates at a disadvantage.

Republicans have closed their primary, allowing only certain voters to participate. The Alaska Democratic Party, in contrast, has an open primary, and we welcome and encourage all voters to vote in our primary and to vote for Democrats. Whether you can remember the A-D-L acronym or not, ask for the ballot with the Democratic candidates.

-- Patti Higgins

chair, Alaska Democratic Party

Anchorage

Dowd's Jane Austen argument shows no sense or sensibility

Maureen Dowd has turned my favorite book, "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, into a political travesty in her Aug. 5 column, "Obama's pride gets in candidate's way."

It should be a "truth universally acknowledged" that Maureen Dowd never misses a chance to ignore truth in her liberal rant. As usual, she distorts her argument with false comparisons and ridiculous conclusions about character when she compares Obama to Darcy and McCain to Wickham in Austen's story.

Readers of "Pride and Prejudice" know Dowd lies about the character of Wickham, who acts the victim as he tells actual lies about Darcy. He is the opposite of John McCain, who is a real hero who never considers himself a victim.

Dowd's Darcy is misrepresented and miscast in her Obama role. Darcy's pride is in never disclosing the wrongs done to him by Wickham and never playing the "victim" card.

However, Dowd excuses Obama's pride by indicating it may be the defense mechanism of a person of mixed race who feels he is an outsider. It is Maureen Dowd who plays the "victim" card for him.

The real John McCain is nowhere to be found in this ridiculous, contrived and deliberate miscast of character.

Shame on Maureen Dowd for shoddy, pseudo-literary drivel. Why do you print it?

-- Beatrice Turner

Palmer

'Conservatives' acted recklessly

You can sure tell it is election year when your "fiscal conservatives" pass legislation that will help people. Yet they could not pass legislation to help the Denali KidCare for insurance, which is minute compared to the legislation passed. Thanks to Kevin Meyer and his fiscal conservative cohorts for passing the most irresponsible and most expensive piece of legislation in the history of the state.

This payment was to help with heat, which would have in itself been fine, but with limitations. They instead opened the door to hell by allowing $1,200 to all Permanent Fund dividend recipients. They failed to give any thought to limiting it to people who actually pay heating bills and who need it. There was nothing in there slated for seeking alternative energy. And they call themselves fiscally conservative. Remember them when the oil prices go down and we aren't quite so flush and so reckless.

My thanks to the five who at least gave it some thought.

-- Carol Gray

Anchorage

Troopers' disciplinary rules need to be investigated and corrected

To the state Legislature -- concerning all associations who police themselves.

When a young man named Porter was killed by a trooper at Sterling several years ago, it was investigated by his brothers in blue. Most people I know think that the trooper should have been fired. This complaint and previous complaints against him for the incident were such as should have had him removed from the force, as he was and I suppose he still is a loose cannon.

The fact that trooper Wooten used a Taser on an 11-year-old puts him in this same category. If people like this are retained as troopers, they should be stripped of their weapons. Using a state-issued weapon such as a Taser for any other purpose than to protect the citizens of this state should be a crime and treated as such.

Gov. Palin has proven her integrity more than once. Mr. Monegan said he served at the governor's discretion and his firing should not be questioned. The troopers' rules governing the steps that are taken when looking into misbehavior or crimes committed by one of their own kind should be looked into and corrected.

I think the people of this state deserve to have things like these problems heard by a common-law jury, and act accordingly.

-- Ralph G. Rector

Kenai

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