It seems these days, from reading the Anchorage Daily News and a few others, we can assume many of our Republican politicians are related because they all have the same surname, “Who-is-under-investigation.” The few who have been indicted and convicted have given the opposition a broad brush with which to blacken the rest of the party.

Having been in law enforcement for 30 years, I can attest that being interviewed during the course of an investigation is no indication of guilt. But in the world of politics there are always opponents who are willing to promote the APPEARANCE of guilt. This is an election year for two of our senior congressional delegation whom the FBI has interviewed, and therefore we can expect some of our news pundits to have their teeth firmly embedded in Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young for the duration of their respective campaigns.

Investigation of complex crimes such as bribery and corruption takes time. Once a criminal investigation is underway, there are a few rules that must be followed.

1. For obvious reasons, the investigating agency is required to keep everything about the investigation confidential until it is complete and charges are filed. We won’t know who is a witness and who is a suspect until the investigation is complete. The FBI has done an excellent job of keeping this investigation quiet, as they should.
2. Even people who are witnesses or suspects won’t know how an investigation is going to turn out until it is over. The prudent person hires an attorney, and a good attorney promptly instructs him or her not to talk to anyone about the case except when required by court order or subpoena.

The Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are (or should be) fully aware of this. Therefore when they demand that Don Young or Ted Stevens should “come clean,” and “explain themselves to Alaskans,” there is only one purpose: to set them up for the inevitable mud-slinging after they refuse to talk about the investigation.

None of us are proud of our politicians who have been convicted of bribery. We need to investigate, penalize the guilty, expunge them from the system and then carry on with the state’s business. But we don’t yet know all there is to know about this investigation.

One function of a free press is to shine the light on political corruption where it exists, but where is the line that separates this more noble aspect of journalism from abject political partisanship? Are some journalists playing the role of political activists?

The bottom line for Alaska is effective representation in Congress. With three liberal candidates for U.S. president who are not fond of Alaska (yes, this includes Sen. John McCain,) it may not be time to trade our senior congressional delegates for candidates who lack both seniority and experience. We must be prepared to defend responsible economic development and other issues important to Alaskans in the face of strong opposition at the federal level.

And on a broader scale, with the likelihood of a liberal executive in the White House there is value in the balance of power that senior conservatives like Ted Stevens and Don Young can provide in Congress.

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This week’s editorial cartoon can be appreciated by politicos on either side of the issue; this is the best place to leave your comments.

See the full cartoon in the Ketchikan Daily News, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, or the Voice of the Times, or click on the cartoon snippet above to view the full cartoon.