This Week In Sanity: May 14, 2021
I don't know about you, but I'm tired. This mayoral election has arguably been the most exhausting of all mayoral elections.
Forrest Dunbar released a statement last evening that many saw as a concession but seemed more akin to a non-concession concession. His statement paid tribute to his campaign team and wrote that the exceptionally high voter turnout was a testament to the level of engagement among many community members and the continued success of Anchorage’s vote by mail system.
In an update to Dunbar's statement made this morning, the campaign writes:
"There are still thousands of ballots to count, and the final outcome of this race is presently unknown. We are confident in the Clerk's ability to accurately process and count voted ballots and look forward to receiving updated results."
Update from the Dunbar campaign on Friday, May 14 at 11:15 AM:
Of course, fringe candidate David Bronson isn't planning on having a vote by mail system if he has anything to say about it. The man who posted a Trump conspiracy theory tweet to Facebook alleging made-up voter fraud allegations in Georgia as armed insurrectionists took Capitol Hill appears focused on flipping six Anchorage Assembly seats in 2022 and stripping Anchorage voters of their right to vote by mail.
What could be more Trumpian than disenfranchising voters? If Bronson wins, you can bet your ass the next three years will be a disaster.
Alaska Senator Shelley Hughes is deeply concerned about the genitalia of school children. She has introduced a bill that would require schools to designate school-sponsored athletic teams or sports as male, female or co-ed and require participation in a female sport to be based on a participant’s sex assigned at birth, according to the Associated Press.
Bronson fanatic Jim Minnery who is having Sebastian Gorka over for dinner, is, of course, urging support for the bill calling it a way to ensure “basic fairness and opportunities for women aren’t sidelined by the demands of radical gender ideologues,” as if Minnery even knows what that means.
Laura Carpenter, Executive Director of Identity, said the bill is discriminatory and “horrific.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska opposes the bill. The ACLU said the bill raises privacy and other concerns and “singles out students who are transgender for discrimination.”
Some things never change with Republicans — the party of freedom, liberty, and keeping government out of your lives, now wants to do genitalia checks on your kids. Sounds about right.
"Unbenounced" to State Senator Lora Reinbold was this post to Facebook, which included a video she says was fifteen minutes long (it was 26 seconds). I don't know what she's grousing about here, but there seems to be a lot of "rumbling" going on, according to the new uber fan of Alaska's Marine Highway system.
The infrequent mask wearer also shared an article from 'American Military News' which claims 120+ retired military flag officers have warned that the United States is ‘under assault’ by socialists, Marxists and which urged Americans to "fight back."
Someone might want to let Reinbold know that Maj. Christopher Warnagiris of the U.S. Marine Corps, an active-duty Marine, was just charged with assaulting a U.S. Capitol Police officer in the Jan. 6 armed insurrection. He has been charged with several federal crimes, including “assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers” and obstructing law enforcement.
Fighting back, especially when fighting for conspiracy theories and lies, isn't always the best solution.
And last, the Dunleavy administration announced today that Alaska would end its participation in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation weekly $300 supplemental benefit on June 12, 2021, in what appears to be a calculated move to force Alaskans to go back to low paying jobs that offer little to no health benefits.
"As Alaska's economy opens up, employers are posting a wide range of job opportunities, and workers are needed," said Commissioner Ledbetter, who was likely dreaming of cruise ships and tourists, which aren't likely to materialize in great numbers until next year.
Sixteen other states, fifteen of them red, are also excited to take away the $300 supplemental benefit from people who became unemployed at the hands of the disastrous Trump administration's response to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
