Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, Sept. 5, 2014

In response to accusations of racial ‘cherry-picking’

Mr. Lieb's accusation of "cherry-picking" (ADN, Tuesday) is based on three fallacies:

(1) It's almost identical to Sen. Jan ("rich people need representation too") Faiks' absurd and meaningless argument concerning the Exxon Valdez disaster: "Oil tankers sailed through the Prince William Sound 800 times without an accident. Does the 'liberal media' report that? Nooooo. …" All it takes is one drunken skipper, and Cordova fishermen have no more herring. All it takes is one trigger-happy cop and some innocent black kid has no more life.

(2) Lieb makes his argument based solely on the "races" of the shooters and the shot (or not shot). He fails to consider the actions of those shot (or not) and the cops' reactions in each case. What this says about his "focus" regarding this issue I leave to the readers.

(3) He discusses this issue only in terms of cops and "suspects or perpetrators." First, see item (2) above, last sentence. Second, how did Amadou Diallo become a "suspect or perpetrator" by pulling his wallet out of his pocket? (Cops almost always demand ID when they approach someone.) How did Kendric McDade become a "suspect or perpetrator" by reaching for his cellphone, or Jonathan Farrell by seeking help after an accident, or Timothy Stanford merely by walking through a door? They became suspects or perpetrators at birth in the eyes of the cops who killed them.

— Al-Hajj Frederick H Minshall

Anchorage

Walker and Democrats aligned on key issues

Watching the reaction to the formation of a strong gubernatorial "unity" ticket has been fascinating. There's real panic out there — and not from progressives. Gov. Parnell asserts that Bill Walker is an Obama acolyte. A leader and a consensus builder? Yes. An Obama protege? Not exactly what jumps to mind, no.

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The facts are these: on no fewer than four key issues, Mr. Walker and the Democratic Party share common values. First, Bill Walker supports Medicaid expansion, just as Sen. Ted Stevens surely would have done. Second, Walker believes in Alaska being respected as a sovereign in charge of its own destiny, not a colonized state beholden to corporate interests. Consistent with this theme, Walker has been a leader in seeking full value to the people of Alaska from developers of our natural resources. Third, Bill Walker supports a strong public education system. And, fourth, Walker has voiced real concerns with the Pebble mine, understanding that not every resource development project is a wise one.

Progressives can be comforted that Democrats have not and never will forsake progressive values relative to the civil liberties questions of the day. We are confident that our two great constitutions will always act as protective shields from incursions into our personal liberties, while also acting to expand those liberties. The Democratic Party has just joined a very big tent.

— Rep. Andy Josephson

D-Anchorage

Clear benefits of unity ticket

Michael Dingman ends his article (ADN, Wednesday) about the Walker-Mallot ticket asking the question, "When one Republican wins over another, what have Alaskan liberals really won?" I can easily answer the question for him.

1. Expansion of Medicaid, thereby providing health care to thousands of Alaskans.

2. The veto of any new legislation further restricting a woman's right to choose.

Is that enough? Maybe not for all. If the choice was between Dingman's vision of a perfect world and the oil field lobbyist currently masquerading as a governor, I too would choose the perfect world.

I urge all Alaskans who care about the furthering of this state to support the unity ticket of Walker-Mallot.

— Connie Faipeas

Anchorage

Pollsters, unions calling shots

So Alaska politics get more and more curious with the dismantling of the Democratic governor and lieutenant governor candidacies. You would think some of the ardent supporters of Mallott and French would feel a bit disenfranchised by a back-room deal brokered by unions and based on polling data, not of the voting booth kind.

Since when does a call from a pollster outweigh a real vote in an election? Now, I guess. If you are an Alaska Democrat, anyway. That's a shame for the campaign workers, financial supporters, voters, and at least one honest candidate who all got the short end of this stick.

My takeaway from this: I better stop declining those annoying surveys that happen just when we sit down for dinner. Spiced up with a quart or two of political expediency, the pimply-faced survey kid on the other end of the line and a couple of union boys might really be running Alaska politics. Who needs a silly voter, anyway, then?

— Michael Meiser

Anchorage

No such thing as free lunch

According to the article ("At 30 Anchorage schools, free meals for all," Tuesday, East High averaged 600 taxpayer-provided lunches a day last year for people that filled out a form. By the way the data put on this form is in no way verified, the system is completely on the honor system. So now we as a society are willing to provide lunch and breakfast for the remaining 1600 students at East High at no cost to them so as to not stigmatize the original 600. So in the name of feeding poor hungry kids, which we all agree is good, we are willing to pay for 2.5 times as many kids that either do not need it or do not qualify.

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Teaching high school kids that you can get a free breakfast and a free lunch at others' expense is absolutely wrong. Where is the responsibility of the parents? How does this teach teenagers responsibility?

Shame on the district, the school, the parents and the teenagers for accepting this money not needed by them. Shame on the idiot(s) in Washington, D.C., who think this is a good use of taxpayer funds.

— Jeff Wilson

Anchorage

Question everything

I'd like to commend Betsy Blassingham for what she wrote in Tuesday's letters in which she revealed, in three short paragraphs, insights about herself, other people, and human culture that are broad and deep, unlike the bumper sticker mentality of the sheep-like majority who accept opinions at face value — without a second thought.

Like her, there are some things I don't understand, including many old beliefs I once took for granted. They no longer stand up to reason, and there is more to life than we can imagine, but pursuing answers is more interesting and rewarding than accepting the status quo.

— Art Carney

Wasilla

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter for consideration, email letters@adn.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.

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