I am voting for Les Gara for governor, with Bill Walker as my second choice. I think they are both honest, honorable men, but I believe Les will do a better job at protecting our interests. Mike Dunleavy is raiding the piggy bank to pay an oversize, unsustainable Permanent Fund dividend this year. That will unfortunately fool some people, but I hope not enough to keep him in office. If he really cared about Alaskans, he would fight to get more money from the oil companies for our oil, instead of continuing to pay them “incentives” to take it away. Many Republicans are standing with Donald Trump and his “Big Lie,” that the 2020 election was “stolen.” If you believe this, you should watch the last hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. It is widely available for streaming. Watch it as if you were a juror and this was the prosecution’s presentation.
Then decide for yourself what you think led up to the insurrection. If you still believe that it was a spontaneous event, that’s OK, but if your understanding of those events improves, ask yourself why some Republican candidates still claim to believe it. I talked to Kelly Tshibaka at the Alaska State Fair, and she said she believes it.
If you are upset at inflation and the price of gas, get ready to be even more upset. Prices are largely set by supply and demand, and Vladimir Putin and the Saudis are cutting back on oil production to increase prices and, by extension, aid the Republicans.
We will all have to pay for this attempt to interfere with our elections. Dictators do not like democracies because their own citizens might start to realize that things could be better for them without their rulers. I hope that the reduced Russian oil exports will mean Putin has less money available for his ongoing invasion of the Ukraine.
If our paying more at the pump means that Putin can buy fewer rockets to fire at Ukrainian civilians, I am happy to do my part.
There is a lot we need to do. We need to stand strong against the destruction of America’s middle class because that is key to our democracy. The changing climate is causing a lot of problems now, with more on the horizon. Plastics are a growing problem because of their prevalence and persistence.
The species that serve as plant pollinators are disappearing and food insecurity is increasing. There is so much that needs to be done and time is slipping away. If we can replace ignorance, greed and hate with awareness, sharing and caring, then we will have a better chance of succeeding.
— Mark Beaudin
Anchorage
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