Don Young (R. Alaska) Disrespects Alaskans

[Blue_In_AK]

Anchorage Daily News editorial opinion today:

Don Young disrespects Alaskans by dodging scandal questions

Published: April 26, 2007
Last Modified: April 26, 2007 at 03:07 AM

Alaska Congressman Don Young had a corrupt aide working on his House transportation committee. The aide, Mark Zachares, traded favors with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Tuesday, Zachares admitted his crime in federal court.

What does Don Young have to say about it?

Nothing.

No statement of regret. No promise to get to the bottom of what happened. No comment on whether he knew what was going on under his nose. No answers to the obvious questions about whether he was personally involved in hiring the aide or in any of the corrupt arrangements.

The congressman is silent, and with his silence, he is flouting his obligation to be accountable to the people who elect him.

Congressman Young can't just brush this scandal off as the excesses of a rogue employee. Zachares is a rogue, but it is well established that Congressman Young accepted campaign money steered his way by Zachares' patron, Jack Abramoff. Congressman Young took positions favored by Abramoff and his clients. A coincidence?

Young isn't saying.

<snip> more...
http://www.adn.com/opinion/view/story/8827711p-8728507c.html

BOTTOM LINE: It's past time for Congressman Don Young to answer questions about the scandal in his congressional committee.




Please, please, please, FBI, keep digging and get this guy indicted.

[maddezmom]

1. Zachares is signing like a songbird & his wife will be too!

'Guilty, your honor', Zachares agrees to cooperate in Abramoff scandal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2823449&mesg_id=2823449

[Blue_In_AK]

3. That's really great news...

Old Don has some other issues going on now that the FBI is looking at also, so he could be in for a world of hurt shortly. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

[acmavm]

4. Hey, can I ask a question? Why oh why is Alaska soooo republican?

I lived back there in the early 70s (and loved it more that anyplace I've ever been in my life) and it wasn't (at least to me) as damn conservative and mean-spirited a place to be as it seems now.

Was I wrong or what happened? I mean, it still had a little flair of the 'wild west' to it. We had to sit through a hardcore porn movie at the Billiken Drive In before we could see Paint Your Wagon. And that's just an example of what a crazy place it 'was'. But it was wonderful.

What happened? Or was I just out of touch?

[Blue_In_AK]

5. What happened?

Two words -- BIG OIL. With the building of the pipeline in the late '70s, we were flooded with a bunch of Texas and Oklahoma oil men, not only workers along the line but executives. They brought with them their Republican politics, sadly.

You'll be happy to know, though, that at least in some places in the state, we're tilting back the other way. I would put Anchorage at about 50-50 now. We have a very progressive young mayor, Mark Begich (late Rep. Nick Begich's son), and although the city counsel tilts a little to the right, it's not too bad. We have many more minority people here now than we did in the early '70s (98 languages spoken in the Anchorage School District), so a more tolerant attitude has developed. That's something I really like about this place.

Gov. Sarah Palin, although a Republican and a social conservative, has seemed to be going out of her way to be nonpartisan, and currently has about an 80 percent approval rating (she's so refreshing after Frank Murkowski, you have no idea). Although there are fewer Democrats than Republicans in the legislature, the Senate majority is actually a coalition including R. Lyda Green as the president, all the Democrats and a few Republicans. So the remaining Republicans are the minority, which I think is really pretty amusing.

Juneau's liberal, Fairbanks is conservative. W's approval rating is less than 50% here for several months running, so I think my fellow Alaskans are starting to come around.


That's probably more than you wanted to know, but since you used to live here...

I personally wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I love this place.

[acmavm]

6. Thank you very much. I can see why you love it. I did too.

[damntexdem]

2. Maybe he's silent because: ...

whatever he says could be used against him in a court of law. ;-)