Think Progress

Palin’s AG pick defended statue of KKK member, said it ‘gets an A for courage.’

Wayne Anthony Ross, Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-AK) nominee for Alaska Attorney General, has come under fire recently for previously calling gays “degenerates,” defending men who rape their wives, and downplaying the the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Max Blumenthal reports that Ross once wrote an op-ed defending the presence of a statue of a KKK member after a black student complained:

rossag2.jpgDozens of op-eds Ross authored during the 1980s and 1990s surfaced as key exhibits in the case against his confirmation. Among them is a 1993 piece entitled, “KKK ‘art’ project gets ‘A’ for courage,” in which Ross defended a local college student who had offended an African-American classmate by creating a statue of a Klansman with a cross in one hand and a flag in the other.“It might have been fun to see [the African-American student] try to remove the display,” Ross wrote. “Then she could have been arrested and her future as a student of the university could have been resolved through the university disciplinary proceedings.”

“The university, quite rightly, allowed the artwork to remain, but art professor Gray capitulated and removed the figure from display,” Ross wrote, defending the statue as freedom of speech. Progressive Alaska dug through old newspaper archives and has more offensive commentary from Ross.



41 Responses to “Palin’s AG pick defended statue of KKK member, said it ‘gets an A for courage.’”

  1. AIO grasshopper says:

  2. P.D. says:

    Can this woman do anything right? She’s a walking disaster for the Repug Party. Good. I’m sure Mccain really regrets putting this woman on his ticket. Thanks a lot John! Now this woman will NEVER leave the spot-light. I’m sure the Alaskan’s are real proud of their Sarah. LOL!


  3. LibertyLover says:

    And the Hits just keep on coming for this woman.

    I’m wondering if Palin regrets accepting McCain’s offer of being his running mate for the Vice Presidency right now.

    And we should be thankful that she said “yes” — had she said “no”, we wouldn’t be so aware of this woman and her choices and her continual gaffes, and she could have slipped into a real position of power in the future.

    More and more, that looks like a political impossibility.


  4. realpatriot says:

    Another fine example of Palin’s judgement abilities…
    The neo-cons are a cancer on America…


  5. joe cantwell says:

    ***

    ross would make a terrible ag.

    but his future as a troll looks bright.

    :)


  6. tombaker says:

    Sarah’s PR team needs to get out ahead on this one – by rolling out a slogan with a kinky double-meaning.

    Everybody’s doing it these days, and it gets a lot of play on Fox.


  7. obama-biden2009 says:

    KKK Member, hates Blacks, hates Gays, Hates women (rape is a husband’s duty) and picked by Sarah? PERFECT for the GOP… If he’s not confirmed, there’s room at Fix Noise.

    THANKS, BUT NO THANKS!!!


  8. P.D. says:

    Liberty@3, I was starting to have sympathy early on. But when it was disclosed about her daughters pregnacy and how the Right defended her, I was severly pissed. You see, my daughter had a unplanned pregnacy when she was sixteen, and my mothers religious friends were SHOCKED, shocked I say! Nobody defended MY daughter, but Sarah’s daughter pretty much got a free pass. The same with the Spears girl. And most of sarsh’s faux pas are self inflicted.


  9. Bozo The Neocootiebug says:

    i wish backwoods barbie the best of luck explaining that one on a national level. and this broad thinks she’s qualified to be president.


  10. wtracy says:

    Can we expect anything else but this scum bag from Palin’s Alaska . . . no surprise! Just imagine who she would fill her canbinet with – if elected to the most powerful position in the world!


  11. MrBrown says:

    People think we are making too much of Sarah by keeping her in the news and reporting things like this. My answer to them is that when she makes appointments like this that blatantly slap progressive America dead in the face, she deserves to be called out. And Billo can put all he wants to her “defense fund” to defend this garbage, it will be a waste of his well paid FOX News dollars.


  12. Buckie Boy says:

    Bigotry, hate, regressive repulsive ethics…hey, he’s a perfect model for the GOP.

    Fcuk the Republicans


  13. bonat says:

    PALIN’S POLITICAL CAREER IS OVER FOR GOOD WITH THIS ONE.

    SHE’S THE “DAVID DUKE” OF ALASKA, SHES MENTALLY INCOMPETENT. ALASKANS SHOULD IMPEACH HER.


  14. Gregor Samsa says:

    Why is it that Republicans respond to well-founded criticisms with accusations of treachery, questioning everyone else’s patriotism, and have an overall Americans-should-watch-what-they-say attitude, but their own offensive spews are nothing more than “freedom of speech”?

    Oh, right, hypocrisy… I forgot…


  15. Bilbo Hussein Baggins says:

    I think that Palin sat down one day and said “now, who would be the most offensive person I could appoint as AG”, and this is the end result. The problem in Alaska is that the AG is an appointed position, so whomever is in that office swears an oath to the Governor and not to the people of the state of Alaska. It’s time that Alaska did something about it and passed a law to make the AG position an elected position instead of an appointed position.


  16. ralph the wonder locust says:

    Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
    I think that Palin sat down one day and said “now, who would be the most offensive person I could appoint as AG”, and this is the end result.

    I thought the same thing when Bush nominated Bolt-on to be UN Ambassador.


  17. Brian Crooks says:

    Mark my words: Sarah Palin will NEVER make it out of the Iowa caucus. There’s absolutely no way to duck this one, and if the GOP thought Black turnout was high in 2008, they ain’t seen nothin’ yet.


  18. Bilbo Hussein Baggins says:

    Here’s Ms. Palin’s current approval by people outside of Alaska:

    http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Politico_Palin_most_untrustworthy_figure_in_0414.html

    And keep in mind this was a poll done by Politico, the Fixed News of the Internet.


  19. ljm says:

    Alaskans must be loving all this attention! Every week they’re in the news again.
    However, when they begin to realize what their “leaders” are doing to the states reputation then…..ah they probably don’t care or will just become defensive. Too bad because it’s a beautiful state and well worth VISITING.


  20. katydid says:

    a palin mix from the googlenews page:

    Legislators push Egan for open Senate seat
    Anchorage Daily News – ?1 hour ago?
    State lawmakers are saying that former Juneau Mayor Dennis Egan could be the candidate for the open state Senate seat that would end the standoff between Gov.
    Palin’s Alaska Fish Board nominee draws criticism Forbes
    John McCain-Sarah Palin rift grows wider, as Sen. leaves former … New York Daily News
    The Exception Magazine – Juneau Empire – CNN Political Ticker – KTVA CBS 11 News Alaska
    all 344 news articles »

    http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ncl=1333059214&topic=n

    poor sarah… coming unhinged…


  21. LibertyLover says:

    P.D. @ # 8.

    Don’t misunderstand, I have no sympathy for this woman. She has brought all of this on herself.

    I just saw her interview with the AK press on Olbermann’s show last night with David Shuster, and she seemed so beaten down, being criticized from the left and from the right and the media and her own legislature.

    It ’s just an observation of mine, but I think that she is making the realization that she can’t just trade on her good looks and her figure anymore. I think that she is realizing that there has to be some substance, too. Personally, I think she is all fluff and the rest of America (with the exception of the theocrats and the 25%ers) is coming to that conclusion as well.

    Bush got away with it because there was always money to bail him out. But SP has no deep pocket backers at the moment, which is perhaps why she is jetting off to a right to life rally before the end of the current legislative session…


  22. IgnoranceIsNotBliss says:

    maybe Alaskans are starting to wake up.


  23. DRxJapanese Beetle says:

    No, I don’t think I’d give it an “A” for courage at all.
    Maybe an “A” for (A)sinine.
    Maybe an “A” for (A)sswipe
    Quite possibly an “A” for (A)trocious.
    But definitely NOT for courage!


  24. liz09 says:

    wayne anthony ross: a director of the nra; pro mining and logging; avid hunter/fisherman who does not support subsistence hunting rights for alaskan natives; wants to overturn roe v wade and thinks a good solution would be for the feds to persuade women to have their babies for others to adopt (has provided pro bono atty services for anti abortion activists for 23 years; like palin, considers washington dc to be THE enemy… i feel so sorry for the people of alaska.

    http://www.themudflats.net/2009/04/09/wayne-anthony-ross-in-his-own-words/
    http://www.nrawinningteam.com/bios00/ross.html
    http://www.adn.com/news/politics/story/737653.html
    http://mamadance.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/who-is-wayne-anthony-ross/


  25. SamBrown says:

    I’m a democrat and certainly no Palin or Ross supporter, but wasn’t the statue made for an art class assignment to make a monster? Therefore the student’s idea of a monster was a member of the kkk? What is so offensive and indefensible about that? Maybe I’ve missed something here but the “take every opportunity to jeer at Palin” bandwagon is as silly as the Republican’s Obama equivalent.


  26. DRxJapanese Beetle says:

    SamBrown, are you new here? Because my “troll” alert goes off when someone begins a post with “I’m a Democrat, or I’m a Progressive…”, which usually ends up being not true.
    Also noted is your capitalization of Republican, but not for Democrat. Freudian slip?

    That being said, the gist of the thread is Ross gave such a display an A for courage, and then went on to say “It might have been fun to see [the African-American student] try to remove the display.”
    And Ross has been known to calling gays “degenerates,” defending men who rape their wives, and severely downplaying the the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

    Not quite nominee material, dontcha think???


  27. wijg says:

    SamBrown is correct,

    “The crux of the piece is a defense of one particular art student’s statue of a KKK figure — created for a class assignment to “depict a monster” — that the University of Alaska-Anchorage had put on display.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/14/wayne-anthony-ross_n_186623.html

    Reasons to attack Ross: “If a guy can’t rape his wife…who’s he gonna rape?”…

    “There wouldn’t be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut.”

    On homosexuality: “Immoral” “perversion” and “degenerates”

    http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/13/719763/-If-a-guy-cant-rape-his-wife-whos-he-gonna-rapesays-Alaska-AG-nominee


  28. ecosutra says:

    THis is a sign of how close we were to getting this type of power in the white house. We had a silent revolution with Obama. This AG is nice timing since the Homeland security report just warned the Fed that they were going to become terrorists. I seen this coming for years. Watch out for Texas I said, for years,” Texas will become a terrorists state if we ever try to get on green energy. ” I stick by those words.

    Hey tell Obama to get the leader of permaculture to lead the civilian draft Americorp. His name is Warren Brush.
    http://www.quailsprings.org

    All anyone ever hears or sees is Wall Street protectionism. If I wanted that. I’d a stayed at home for the silent revolution.


  29. bonat says:

    wijg Says:

    Reasons to attack Ross: “If a guy can’t rape his wife…who’s he gonna rape?”…

    “There wouldn’t be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut.”
    ———————————————————-
    When someone rapes your wife, daughter, sister and/or mother than I guess you would not be fulfilling your brotherly,fatherly,son duties, correct?

    You are such a iniquitous,virulent thinker.


  30. Jess Wonderin says:

    “Palin” . . the gift that keeps on giving . . . .


  31. wijg says:

    bonat Says:

    “When someone rapes your wife, daughter, sister and/or mother than I guess you would not be fulfilling your brotherly,fatherly,son duties, correct?

    You are such a iniquitous,virulent thinker.”

    What the hell are you talking about? I was quoting Ross.


  32. MapleStreet says:

    As you did well, TP: look at the pattern and not just one event. Valdez, Rape, KKK, etc.

    One event, I could possibly see the KKK defended under the pretext that even hate speech is protected speech (even though I’d counter that the University is using University space to forward a cause which is extremely hateful and injurous to the right of students to study in a safe environment).

    But looking at the events in sequence !


  33. dickdata42 says:

    I wonder if Putin would be interested in buying Alaska back. Some sort of land for oil. We’d throw in the AIP and the other kooks for free.


  34. drew3rd says:

    I don’t understand why this KKK artwork was a problem. Offending all of Christendom with “Piss Christ” and taxpayer dollars was deemed political free speech. If Christains have to deal with that it is perfectly reasonable for blacks to have to deal with this. Both are hateful, but that horse has left the barn. Hate is protected if it is art.


  35. SamBrown says:

    I’m not a troll Mr or Ms Beetle, but you illustrate the reason I felt I’d better point out early that I’m a Democrat and not a republican(is that better?)I was pointing out that under the circumstance the statue was made, as I understand it, it didn’t make sense(to me) to be offended by it. A KKK member as a monster makes sense to me.
    From what I’ve been reading it seems like there are plenty of reasons to be against Ross’ nomination, I’m just not sure this is one of them, unless I’ve missed some of the facts.
    Makes me chuckle to be suspected of being a troll just because I questioned “our side’s” coverage of this.


  36. Bilbo Hussein Baggins says:

    Yeah, this wingnut thought it was a first amendment right for the KKK to have that statute, but he then went on to represent a man who twice dumped ice water on anti-war protesters when it was -10 degrees out. He said that their protesting was an insult to those who were in Iraq.

    So, first amendment rights for the KKK but for war protesters, not so much.

    This man is a nightmare. I hope the legislators in Alaska are smart enough to reject him.


  37. Yamunation says:

    As soon as someone cries out “I’m not racist!” you know they ARE.


  38. AlexLawyer says:

    I’m not convinced he’s actually very different from most conservatives; he’s just more honest about it.


  39. OmegaHunter says:

    I wish some of the posters here would read the full story. As SamBrown was pointing out there are plenty of reasons that this man should be nowhere near the AG seat, including things in this very op-ed, but the defense of the statue itself is not one of them.

    The statue was made for an art class and the students were supposed to sculpt a “monster.” So that’s what the student did, he made a monster, a Klansman. An African-American psych student found the statue offensive and thought that it shouldn’t be displayed. So I agree with the defense of the statue, and I imagine most of the posters here would too.

    The problem with the op-ed comes with his criticism of the offended student. He basically calls her an idiot, mocks her major and suggests she try to forcibly remove the statue just so he could see her get arrested.

    This man is crazy and should NOT be attorney general of anything. This in addition to his comments on homosexuals and rape are frightening.

    I just wish the headline (ditto to the post on HuffPo) was more direct and honest about the offensiveness of his op-ed. It suggests he was defending the KKK itself, or at least some racist’s art, which he wasn’t. Some of the other posts on here show that it’s misleading. Such as Bilbo’s “Yeah, this wingnut thought it was a first amendment right for the KKK to have that statute” comment show that the headline and small blurb don’t convey what is really offensive here, or even what’s really here at all.

    I love reading this site I just don’t want to see it trying to be unnecessarily incendiary like so many righty sites/radio hosts/Fox etc.


  40. woke says:

    In yet another DEFEAT for Palin, this moron was not approved by Alaska’s representatives……

    Soon, she will lose re-election for Governor as her “constituents” got a good long hard look at who she really is during the presidential campaign, eh?


  41. guzide says:

    OK Pat obviously senile dementia has set in. Time to see the nice young men that will need to take care of you soon.burun estetigi rent a car arac kiralama
    sac ekimi



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