Metablogging on WAR investigations

In response to this question from Phil Munger at Progressive Alaska: "What is the most important thing I learned about our on-line community during the Ross nomination process?" here is a little metablogging:

One of the topics I frequently blog about is that of community--community in the physical sense and also in the virtual sense. A community is not made of people who all think the same way, it is people who share a space. Bloggers share the blogosphere, although they are, figuratively and literally, all over the map. The community of Alaska bloggers is connected by links and the readers who traverse those linkages--and by the effect their words have on the rest of the world. Wayne Anthony Ross' nomination brouhaha further emphasized for me that Alaska bloggers are a VERY powerful force for investigative journalism, essentially because we work together, piecing together parts of a story, confirming research by others and catching errors or refuting rumor or lies.

This is not to say that blogging is journalism--it's a different animal--but by taking advantage of the biases or interests or skills of the different bloggers out there, a group of bloggers can focus in on all aspects of a situation in a rapid, in-depth, interconnected way. Rather than one tight story with all the loose ends tidied, one gets a big tangled knot of a discussion/investigation with lots of threads leading off into other arenas. And some bloggers, of course, have a penchant for trying to make sense of the whole, so we get overviews, too. (I think the medium lends itself to being succinct. Mostly.)

With Ross, we discovered several people and issues, emphasizing and researching that which interested us--so a full picture developed of who Ross was, what this nomination might mean for many different groups (Natives, gays, women, children, lawyers, gun collectors, hunters, legislators, etc.) as well as the overall state overall, what the process of nomination entailed, the relationship of the governor to her nominee, and so on. And by developing this picture over many days and many blogs, many people learned about him—and obviously decided that he wasn't making a pleasant view. We achieved influence.

There was an interesting news story on Democracy Now! this morning about how an investigation into the murder of a journalist was solved by newspeople from different media and papers working together. The Chauncy Bailey Project was, to the reporters working on it, a novel sort of collaboration (rather than a competition to, say, get the story out first), but this happens all the time on the web. Bloggers rely on collaboration, in fact, through linking and quoting other bloggers, through the people who comment, through anything on the web or that can be placed on the web. And these days, that's pretty much anything.

When we make a conscious effort to collaborate, to make, in effect, a temporary intentional community, we've got a good chance of discovering the truth of things--and that, I think, speaks for itself. Certainly it did in this case.

Applause from the half of the state Palin hasn't noticed yet

From the Alaska Federation of Natives:

The Alaska Federation of Natives applauds the 26th Alaska State Legislature’s refusal to confirm Wayne Anthony Ross as the next Attorney General of the State of Alaska. We extend our thanks and appreciation to the members of the 26th Alaska State Legislature for making the right decision.

Hear, hear!

There's sanity in Alaska politics after all

Old news on the blogosphere by now, but I'm doing a little happy dance anyway: Mr. Wayne Anthony Ross's nomination for attorney general by Ms. Sarah Palin was soundly rejected today (35 agin, 23 fer). I am, however, utterly astounded that as many as twenty-three members of the legislature thought Ross was sufficiently sober and appropriate to be confirmed. They would be:

John Cohill, R-North Pole (of course!)

Nancy Dahlstrom, R-Anchorage

Anna Fairclough, R-Eagle River (are you surprised?)

Carl Gatto, R-Palmer (nah--not him!)

John Harris, R-Valdez

Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage

Carl Johnson, R-Anchorage

Wes Keller, R-Wasilla (ah, yes, Mr. Wingnut. No surprises there.)

Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks (I recall some real silliness from Kelly, but I would have thought he'd have more respect for the law. Well, maybe not.)

Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage

Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage

Cathy Munoz, R-Juneau

Mark Neuman, R-Wasilla

Kurt Olson, R-Soldotna

Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks (Jay! Come ON! I thought you had more sense!)

Bill Stoltze, R-Eagle River

Con Bunde, R-Anchorage (This man's reputation extends statewide, which is too bad.)

Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River

Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla

Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage

Linda Menard, R-Wasilla

Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage

Gene Therriault, R-North Pole (Another one who shows sense from time to time, but still, I remain unshocked that he voted this way.)

So there you have it. The list of people who don't seem to get that when a nominee starts out with an agenda, this is bad; that when the nominee isn't too concerned about what's legal, this is bad; that when the nominee is blatantly bigoted against a group of citizens, that this is bad; that when the nominee has no concern for the needs and legal issues of half the state, this is also bad; that when the nominee is not just colorful, he's insensitive and rude, that's bad. These are politicians who don't have good judgement, I'd say. Apparently the overriding factor for them was that they felt they Must Show Party Loyalty. This seems to be the general pattern for Republicans in recent years: Party Solidarity Above All, and to hell with the country or what's good for the state or the people or the Rule of Law.

Go figure.

Watch them carefully. Look at their records. Decide for yourself. I intend to keep a sharper eye on them than I have been.

Voting rights in Alaska

Most of the rest of the Alaska blogosphere seems to be talking about Wayne "Agenda" Ross, and I don't blame them (the guy's freaking scary), but there's yet another little item that needs Alaska bloggers' attention: Senate Bill 68, An Act Relating to the Voting Rights of Felons. This bill would liberalize the voting rights of people convicted of felonies in Alaska; right now, Alaska prevents felons from voting until they have served time, and are done with probation and/or parole. The bill would restrict voting rights only while a felon was actually incarcerated.

Two states, Maine and Vermont, allow prisoners the vote. Every other state and the District of Columbia all restrict felons' voting rights to some degree, and two states, Kentucky and Virginia, deny voting rights for life to anybody with a felony conviction and never mind whether they've paid their debt to society--they still have to pay, and can never have a vote again. This is draconian. Alaska is on the more restrictive end of the spectrum, although not in with the most restrictive states. Overall, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world (although perhaps China may be higher--it's hard to tell).

SB 68 is a bill that should be passed. The Sentencing Project has some interesting statistics on incarceration and felony disenfranchisement (although, curiously, it doesn't provide statistics for Alaska Natives). There's a somewhat old site specifically on Alaska's prisoners that claims (as of November 2006) that "Alaska has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country." SitNews reported this February that

the number of inmates in Alaska's prisons will likely double by 2030 unless the state significantly increases its prevention, intervention, education and treatment programs soon…. The study showed that Alaska's prison population is among the fastest growing in the US, with 5 times more inmates in 2007 than in 1981.

It's expensive, too.

ISER's research summary is here. (PDF)

All Fools up here in Alaska

Hoo, boy what a hilarious week we've had. Just when I thought Alaska politics couldn't get any more ridiculous, BAM!

• Wayne Anthony Ross gets appointed as attorney general not because he's good at law, but because he's got an agenda! From the Gov's own press release:

As Attorney General, Ross will work with the governor on issues surrounding development of Alaska’s rich natural resources as the state continues its efforts to provide energy security for America and lower energy costs for Alaskans. As Attorney General, Ross also will help the governor protect Alaskans’ right to bear arms, and he will work tirelessly to manage Alaska’s fish and game resources for abundance through science and not politics.

• Recently-Republican Democrat Grussendorf gets chosen (by Sarah), then rejected (by the legislature)
• Mike Doogan makes an idiotic move and unveils a pseudonymous political blogger's real name
• a volcano goes off and Chevron decides to follow Exxon's wise example and leave 6 million gallons of oil in tanks on the side of said volcano--with no response plan ready! More here.
• Three years after the fact, the state sues BP for some oil spills and back royalties.
• Ted gets off scot-free because the prosecution screwed up their big case with a capital S

Sheesh. Can it get any worse?

Hah. Better not bet against it--in this state, it can always get worse...

W.A.R.: what is it good for?

You know the next line in the song: absolutely nothing. Well, in this case, Mr. Wayne Ross is good for something: creating discord, furthering the fusion of church and state, supporting (not just defending) thugs and bullies, stripping women of their rights, and otherwise being obnoxious. And Sarah, of course, thinks he's just ducky for the state's top legal beagle.

Gag me with a spoon.