Alaska citizens have a right to file ethics complaints against their elected representatives. State law guarantees it. But when Alaskans use the ethics law to score political points, they abuse that right -- and may put it at risk.

Case in point: The latest complaint against Gov. Sarah Palin. Kim Chatman complains the governor has violated state ethics law by having her old friend Kristan Cole set up and run the "Alaska Fund Trust," a legal defense fund to cover Palin's legal bills.

We don't like the title any more than Kim Chatman does. The governor should play it straight and call the fund what it is -- the Sarah Palin Legal Defense Fund. And if someone else named it, the governor should get him or her to rename it.

But she's within her rights to create a fund to cover her legal expenses -- and complaints like Chapman's only win sympathy for the governor and run up the legal bills.

Another case is from Andree McLeod, who has made some legitimate complaints against the Palin administration, most notably in keeping private e-mails about state business archived and open to public viewing.

But she complained earlier this year that a press release issued by Palin on the state Web site last August was a misuse of state resources. Spare us. The governor's release sought to reassure Alaskans that she would continue to govern the state while running for vice president. Part of the release -- that it was great to be running with John McCain and taking the spirit of reform to D.C. etc. -- was political boilerplate and arguably out of place under state letterhead. But that was not worth an ethics complaint.

State ethics law is not a megaphone for crying foul every time the governor or any other elected official does something someone doesn't like. Complaints are supposed to be confidential until an investigation finds probable cause. That limited confidentiality is supposed to prevent undue publicity and political harm from frivolous complaints.

If you file a complaint against a legislator and then blab to the media about it, your complaint is automatically dismissed. That protection doesn't apply to ethics complaints involving the executive branch. It should.

Ethics law is for serious inquiries into possible violations of public integrity and civic duty. The "Troopergate" investigation was an example of a valid pursuit of ethics issues, no question. When and whether the state should cover the travel expenses of Palin family members led to another fair complaint -- one that prompted the governor to say she'd be reimbursing the state for some of her children's travel.

When Alaskans make the ethics law a vehicle for gadfly politics, they weaken even valid ethics complaints in the public eye -- cynics dismiss every complaint as political. And they strengthen the hand of those lawmakers who want to weaken Alaskans' ability to hold elected officials accountable.

Let's not play politics with ethics complaints. Let's make them fearlessly, but only with just cause.

BOTTOM LINE: Ethics law is a means to hold leaders accountable, not a political plaything.

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