Many Alaskans are blissfully unaware of how intolerant the State Capitol building has grown toward conservatives in recent years. To be known as a conservative legislator or a conservative activist in Juneau is to have a target on your back. Sooner or later, that means being subjected to a politically motivated prosecution from the misnamed Legislative Ethics Committee.
Rep. Tammie Wilson of North Pole was targeted by the Ethics Committee when she served in the Legislature. Sen. Lora Reinbold of Eagle River was targeted. Rep. Christopher Kurka of Wasilla was targeted. And my staff and I were targeted as well. It wasn’t any better when I was a member of the Ethics Committee several years ago.
Setting aside its original purpose, the function of the Ethics Committee today is to censor what legislators can say, especially conservative legislators. In addition to policing more traditional forms of communication, the committee has lately decided that it should also be able to police what legislators say on social media as well.