After months of contentious debate, the Anchorage Assembly approved a city-wide ordinance yesterday making discrimination based on sexual orientation illegal.

The 7 to 4 decision came down Tuesday night after the assembly heard from more than 600 people who signed up to testify throughout the summer.

The evening was emotional even before the decision, but this time it came from the other side of the testifying podium — the assembly members themselves.

After months and months of listening to public testimony on the controversial anti-discrimination ordinance, it was the assembly’s turn to talk — and they rivaled the emotion of the 600 speakers before them.

“The rest of the people in this community deserve equal rights just like the rest of us,” said assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson.

“We need to treat each other well in this world, and we don’t, and I wish we did,” assembly chair Debbie Ossiander said.

Mayor Dan Sullivan has seven days to veto the ordinance. Hopefully this will be the first of many positive steps forward in a post Palin Alaska.

Yes, as the First Dude, I think you are completely entitled to keep your sexy knickers, I mean silk boxers. I’m not sure from what fine establishment they were purchased but I doubt they’ll accept such a return. Just have Sarah round up the rest of the $150k in clothing and return them post-haste.

As for the sexy knickers, it’s a borrowed line from the classic TV show Are You Being Served. Enjoy.

As for Sara and Todd Palin… aren’t they just the gift that keep on giving? This much needed moment of levity, unfortunately, is now at an end.

A bi-partisan report running 1000 pages was released in Alaska today concluding that Sarah Palin abused her power as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the state police force, but violated no laws.

I guess this is the kind of governance we can expect if Sarah Palin takes the office of the Vice President. Suddenly Dick Cheney’s shoes don’t seem quite so big, and Palin is certainly a better shot.

As VP candidate Sarah Palin discussed Barack Obama’s alleged ties to William Ayers at a rally in Clearwater, Florida (surprise) today, one of her fervent supporters shouted “Kill Him!” Palin failed to rebuke them and moved on with her allegations. It’s now abundantly clear the McCain campaign is happy to foment it’s base into an angry frenzy to get them to get out and vote against Obama and his “terrorist pals“.

And earlier today at another rally, McCain allowed one of his supporters to call Barack Obama a terrorist without so much as a blink.

I’m not asking the candidates to control their supporters, I know that’s pretty much impossible. But at least call them out when they make such outrageous and incendiary statements. But they can’t even bother to do that. Just imagine the outrage on the right if something like this had happened at an Obama rally.

This is what the race has boiled down to. And we all may suffer for it.