Opinions

Don Young has earned retirement, now

I was about 10 when I heard a sermon I will never forget. The speaker that day drew a few gasps from the congregation of the Homer Christian Church when he disagreed with a passage from the Bible.

He quoted from 1 Corinthians, Ch. 13, the passage you often hear at weddings: "Faith, Hope and Love, the greatest of these is love."

"That's not true," he said. "The greatest of these is hope."

He explained that his father had committed suicide. There was no shortage of love in their family. His father had simply lost hope that the pain of his illness would ever be alleviated. It was too much to bear.

Too bad Congressman Don Young wasn't sitting next to me that day almost 35 years ago.

This past week, our 81-year-old congressman addressed a group of high school students in Wasilla. Just days earlier, a Wasilla student had taken his own life. It's heartbreaking to know that statistically Young could have gone to any high school in Alaska and run into a grieving student body. Ours is the highest rate of suicide in the nation.

In response to a general question about the problem of suicide, Young callously opined that suicide victims lack support from friends and family. When a student -- a friend of the deceased teen -- said that wasn't true, Don Young took offense, because he had been "talked back to." The student dared to tell the congressman the suicide was prompted by "depression -- you know, a mental illness."

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To which Young quipped: "Well, what, do you just go to the doctor and get diagnosed with suicide?"

When the principal explained to Young that the student was a friend of the deceased, the congressman responded, "That boy needs to learn some respect."

Really, Don? Who the hell do you think you are? What have you done in that teen's lifetime that would merit his respect? Is it the fact that you're so unethical that even your own party won't trust you with a committee chairmanship or leadership position? Is it because you so regularly embarrass all Alaskans with racial slurs, profanity in the most inappropriate circumstances, bigoted comments toward LGBT citizens or making clown faces during discussions of dead American soldiers? And that's just the stuff you've done recently.

Too many Alaskans are too familiar with our suicide rate. To have our half-lit-bulb of a representative blame the families and friends of suicide victims is just sickening. Everyone involved in these tragedies is a victim.

While school administrators, teachers and parents at Wasilla High School try to help students through their grief, Don Young shows up to callously tell them it's their fault, and to demand respect when he deserves condemnation.

When asked later about his comments at the school, Young doubled down. He went further down the looney trail by saying suicide in Alaska didn't exist before "government largesse" gave residents an "entitlement mentality." That comment seemed particularly aimed at Alaska Natives, who have suffered some of highest suicide rates and are often attacked by our local racists for the government services they receive.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is endorsing Young for re-election. She asked him to say he was sorry. In a Facebook post, she said her constituents were asking what she made of Young's remarks. "Words matter," she said.

Agreed. And so do actions. Like making sure every American has access to mental health care. (I guess I must have an "entitlement mentality.") Young is opposed to that.

Don Young has been a congressman since I was 3 years old. I never minded that he tops the most absent member of Congress lists because I rarely agree with how he votes. What I'm tired of is how he treats us. That he doesn't seem to care about anything but himself. That he has the audacity to blame suicide on survivors and welfare and has no idea that too often it is because people have run out of hope for their own lives.

If we weren't just days from the election, I doubt we'd have heard Don Young's apology at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention for being insensitive. See, the last few days had been hard on him, he explained. Yeah, Congressman, I'm sure you have the thoughts and prayers from families who are surviving suicides. Making himself a victim of his own words widens his disconnect from what people dealing with the pain of suicide are dealing with.

Maybe this will be the year when Alaskans finally say enough is enough. Then Don Young can retire into a well-earned position of obscurity. Out to pasture with the bulls he's so fond of talking about.

Shannyn Moore is a radio broadcaster.

The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com

Shannyn Moore

Shannyn Moore is a radio broadcaster. You can hear her show, "The Last Word," Monday through Friday 4-6 p.m. on KOAN 95.5 FM and 1080 AM and 1480 We Act Radio in Washington, D.C., and on Netroots Radio.The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.

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