So, who exactly is Talis Colberg, the Alaskan Attorney General who, despite a raftload of conflicts of interest, has proven so central to Sarah Palin's efforts to squelch the ongoing Troopergate investigation? An Alaskan lawyer (and blogger) explains:
Prior to being plucked from obscurity by Sarah Palin, Talis Colberg was a home grown Mat-Su Valley homeboy who practiced workers compensation law by himself out of a small office in downtown Palmer, a farm town (of sorts) down the road from Wasilla. When news of his nomination reached Anchorage, to the man and woman, I and every other lawyer of my acquaintance said, “Talis who?” No one, and I mean no one (other than the few attorneys who practice in Wasilla), had ever heard of the fellow.
Talis Colberg was so obviously unqualified to be attorney general that a number of members of the Alaska Legislature, including many Republicans many of whom were in leadership positions, threatened not to confirm him. But, in the end, they reluctantly agreed to give Sarah her guy....
During his confirmation hearing, the members of the House Judiciary Committee questioned Talis quite hard to try to determine who, if he became attorney general, he thought his client would be. The people of Alaska? Or Sarah Palin? I was not there to hear it. But I am told by people who were that Talis’s answer was a confused muddle.
On the other hand, he does have a doctorate. His dissertation title (I kid not): "M.D. Snodgrass: The Founder of the Alaska State Fair."