Former Juneau Rep. Beth Kerttula has been tapped to join the Obama administration.

Courtesy of Alaska Public:

Former Juneau Rep. Beth Kerttula has joined the Obama Administration as Director of the National Ocean Council Office. 

Since January, Kerttula has been a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Ocean Solutions. She was appointed to the federal job on Wednesday and is already at work in Washington, D.C. 

The job was announced in an email to her Stanford colleagues, where Kerttula has been working on ocean issues. She has described her role there as a conduit between state legislatures and science policy makers, bringing them together to discuss ocean policies. In that job, she had worked with the National Ocean Council. 

President Obama established the council by executive order in 2010. Kerttula will lead the office that supports it.

A handful of you may remember that Kerttula resigned her position as House Minority Leader earlier this year in order to take that position at Stanford, that now appears to have been a stepping stone to a career in Washington.

However the rest of you will probably only remember Kerttula for a rather famous picture.

One taken in Juneau on February 25, 2008. Twenty two days before Trig was born (Oops! Make that 53 days, having an off math day.), and ten days before Sarah Palin announced to the world that she was even pregnant.

Here is another picture from the same day.

So good luck in your new job Beth, but for those of us who have doggedly pursued the truth behind Palin's bizarre "pregnancy" your place in history has already been assured.

KTUU reports on the battle between Sarah Palin and the Alaska Democrats, over a devious shapeshifter named "Dorfy".

I actually have one compliment for Tim Grussendorf (who will from now on be known on IM as simply "Dorfy"), at least he has the guts to accept his baldness. His father, Ben Grussendorf, had one of the all time worst hairpieces in the whole history of hairpieces. This thing was so ugly that it almost looked like something had crawled onto his head and simply died there.

So good on you Dorfy! It looks like the only thing you are trying to hide is your true party affiliations and your secret pact with Governor Sarah.

Hmmm. You know upon further reflection I think I would prefer an honest guy with a dead mammal on his head.

Well I am watching these Juneau Democrats and they better not let Palin out maneuver them again. Now is the time to show some backbone and stop this woman in her tracks. If she wants to play games with this process then let the world know how little she respects the constituents of Juneau, and the will of their legislators.

Come on Juneau! The whole world is watching. Don't let us down!

Beware the wolf at the door in ill fitting sheep's clothing.

Gov. Sarah Palin has appointed legislative aide Tim Grussendorf to the state Senate seat that opened when Juneau Democrat Kim Elton resigned. It's a controversial pick that Grussendorf's own party says it will try to block.

Palin had to pick a Democrat from Juneau for the seat under state law. But Grussendorf was a registered Republican until just weeks ago, then switched to being a Democrat to qualify for the appointment. Grussendorf now needs a majority vote of the nine Democrats in the state Senate to approve his appointment.

Juneau Democratic Party officials want state House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula to get the Senate seat instead and are rallying party leaders statewide.

"We're asking them to call their senators and encourage their senator to stand behind Beth Kerttula and vote this nomination down," Rich Listowski, a state Democratic Party central committee member from Juneau, said after Palin made the pick Sunday.

We knew that there must be something fishy about this Grussendorf guy, but it turns out that it was not fish we smelled but the rotten aroma of his ill-fitting disguise.

I am very happy that the Democrats seem perfectly aware that the Governor is sending them a double agent. The guy may as well be wearing his hair up and expensive designer glasses, because he is there to represent Sarah Palin not the people of Kim Elton's district.

And don't you just love his pathetic excuse for being registered as a Republican?

Tim Grussendorf said he never meant to be a registered Republican. He said that he changed his party registration from Democrat to undeclared in 2006, so he could vote in the closed Republican primary, which had contested races he wanted to participate in. Grussendorf said he then requested an absentee ballot to vote while out of town in the Republican primary, and somehow that resulted in his party registration being mistakenly changed to Republican.

Don't you just hate it when you wake up and oops your a Republican? But that is total bullshit and Grussendorf all but admits that it is.

"I'm a pretty conservative Democrat ... her thought process I believe was trying to find someone who can represent both districts. And I believe that I fit that bill.

"Both districts"? What does that mean? There is only one district. And that is the one that elected Kim Elton. They did not elect a Republican "playing a Democrat", they elected a true Democrat. And giving them anything less is a slap in the face to those voters.

The guys a fraud and the Democrats need to kick him to the curb and demand that the Governor sign off on Kerttula. She is the right choice, and the one that clearly scares the Governor stupid. I am sorry, stupider.

Which in my mind makes this a no brainer for the Dems.

Palin is playing divide and conquer with the Alaskan Democrats. Let us hope they can see through her blatant manipulations.

Governor Names Grussendorf to Senate Seat

March 29, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin today named Tim Grussendorf as her designee to replace Kim Elton as the state senator from District B, representing the City and Borough of Juneau.

Grussendorf has worked as a commercial fisherman and serves as chief of staff to Alaska State Senator Lyman Hoffman. He is currently president of the Southeast Alaska Fishermen’s Alliance and a board member of the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association. Grussendorf is active in the Juneau community, volunteering his time to coach soccer and basketball teams. He is the assistant basketball coach at Floyd Dryden Middle School.

Grussendorf’s father, Ben Grussendorf, was a representative from Sitka and served as Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives.

“Tim’s solid credentials and thorough understanding of the issues facing our state will serve his constituents well,” Governor Palin said. “I am confident he will be able to hit the ground running.”

First Palin somehow manipulates Mike Doogan into doing her dirty work for her to try and quiet a powerful progressive voice and now she is trying to pit Democrat against Democrat in a battle to replace Kim Elton.

I do not know a thing about Tim Grussendorf at this point. But if Governor Palin wants him that should raise everybody's suspicions. When was the last time she did anything that was not totally self serving?

Democrats need to stop simply reacting to the Governor and start taking charge of their own destiny. Tim Grussendorf should simply say "thanks but no thanks", and allow Rep. Kerttula to remain the only candidate available for the position.

And if he does not do that the Democrats should refuse to confirm him and suggest that he attempt to get into the House or Senate the old fashioned way, by running for it. May I suggest perhaps running for Doogan's seat in the next election? Trust me he will not prove difficult to beat.