By ART CHANCE
The sane people in Anchorage can take comfort in the failure of the avaricious bond measures thrown out by the Peoples’ Committee for Education, excuse me, the Anchorage Oblast School Committee, sorry, I keep finding myself in the wrong country and decade.
We can also take some comfort from Randy Sulte’s defeat of Assemblyman John Weddleton, though Weddleton is such a get along, go along guy that had Assemblywoman Jamie Allard had a majority, he’d have probably been a fairly reliable vote for her. That said, good riddance; all he had going for him was that he wasn’t as bad as the true communists. And that is the end of the good news about the Anchorage Municipal election.
Reasonable people can disagree about the police, fire, and other service bonds. All of them passed but none with my vote because I’m simply not willing to give the corrupt and self-serving city government another dime. Maybe when we get a government that represents the taxpayers rather than the interest groups and public employees, I’ll think about giving them money beyond that which they confiscate with taxation.
The rest of the election was simply disastrous for sane people. First, let’s deal with a pernicious meme that pervades conservative opinion, including opinion on these pages. A lot of self-anointed “true conservatives” aver that the communist Assembly in Anchorage exists because conservatives just can’t be bothered to vote; this simply isn’t true. The mail ballot election system stacks the deck against centrist/conservative voters and the advantage is usually insurmountable. Bronson’s election was a fluke made possible by the lefty come-apart precipitated by former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’ tryst-gone-bad. Weddleton pretty much mailed his campaign in and Stulte managed a narrow victory. We of the center-right did get a win in Eagle River, but as Kelly Merrick’s false-flag victory over Jamie Allard in the House race showed a few years ago, even Eagle River isn’t safe against a well run and funded false-flag campaign.
At the bottom of the issue is Alaska’s very lax voter registration system. Even back in the 1970s, Alaska accommodated its very transient population by making it very easy to register to vote. Registrars sitting at a card table at the entrance to stores and malls were an every weekend sight during election season. You had to sign an oath that you were who you said you were and lived where you said you lived, but I never saw any evidence of anyone checking on it.
The first political news I have any strong memories of were the controversies surrounding Gov. Jay Hammond’s defeat of incumbent Gov. Bill Egan and his primary defeat of former Gov. Walter Hickel in 1978. The courts found plenty of evidence of slovenliness, incompetence, and malconduct, but they set a rule that such conduct had to be sufficient to alter the outcome of the election, and they left that determination to themselves.
An already lax and sloppily run registration and election system was made even less rigorous by the ”motor voter” provisions in federal election law enacted during the President Clinton years. Anyone who had any contact with a government office likely was registered to vote every time they had such a contact. We may wonder how much effort went into clearing the duplicate registrations. Duplicates remain a vexatious problem; some are just two people with the same name, but some are duplicate or even multiple registrations.
Then we had a “hold my beer” moment. For those who thought our voting system was too lax, we went even further when we enacted the Permanent Fund dividend registration system. Everyone over 18 who has met the residency requirements for receiving a PFD, and a lot who haven’t, is now a registered voter. The Permanent Fund division of the Department of Revenue has almost no capability to verify residency or identity fraud. Some significant percentage of Alaska’s registered voters no longer live here; they established residency, got a PFD or two and moved elsewhere. The State of Alaska, for both good reasons and bad, has done a terrible job of purging the rolls of inactive voters. There are lots, certainly thousands, of registered voters who haven’t set foot in Alaska in years and are unlikely to ever do so again.
The vast majority of these people have never given Alaska another thought and have certainly never taken the risk of casting a fraudulent ballot in Alaska. But, they don’t have to. The fact that their name is on the voter roll is all somebody intending fraud needs.
Anchorage uses the State’s hopelessly polluted voter rolls and sends out a ballot to the address of record on the State’s rolls. Unfortunately the person who appears on the voter roll at that address may not have lived there in years. Anchorage touts its system in which it sends a post card to the address of registered voters and asks them to verify that they are the person on the roll at that address. How many of those do you think actually get a response? The really conscientious might scrawl “not at this address” and put it back in the mailbox; most will just pitch it in the trash. In multi-family housing, many will just pile up at the mailbox. Give me a crew of woke college students and a little money, and I’ll efficiently harvest all those lonely unclaimed ballots.
That’s an entry level course on how to commit fraud. In Anchorage I don’t think they’ve engaged in much, if any, fraud; they don’t have to yet.
In Anchorage’s mail ballot scheme and in the State elections when they use mail ballots the Left can turn out its vote at wholesale. They don’t have to use the State’s polluted voter rolls with no current contact information. The unions and leftist interest groups that make up the bulk of the Leftist vote have up to date membership lists and up to date contact information. In the case of most of the unions they get updated lists from the employers regularly and at your expense. The voluntary interest groups have to work a little harder but they have much more accurate contact information than center/right candidates who have to rely on State rolls or spend serious money for privately collected lists that are somewhat, only somewhat, more accurate
The leftists set up their phone banks and get out their vote. Many if not most of the people working their phone banks are on paid release time from their employer.
If they have recalcitrant voters, some of them are not above sending a couple of guys from the Hall over to a member’s house for some additional persuasion.
Center-right candidates have to get out their vote with shoe leather, volunteers who are really giving up their personal time, and use of a very fragmented and expensive print and electronic media.
The reality is that so long as there are mail ballot elections, the Left will win most of them. Anchorage is lost unless we can eliminate the mail ballot.
Art Chance is a retired Director of Labor Relations for the State of Alaska, formerly of Juneau and now living in Anchorage. He is the author of the book, “Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance,” available at Amazon.
……And the Left is INSANE! Years and years of therapy will follow the 22′ mid-terms and the 24′ return of Donald Trump. Good for my business, though. Good article, Art.
You and Art were perfectly content with ABSENTEE VOTING, as established by Richard Viguerie — the GOP god of political direct marketing.
He envisioned the alleged Grand Old Party wresting any lingering semblance of power and control from the Democrats through the application of his private business direct marketing paradigm. How, specifically? By advocating the use of ABSENTEE VOTING — first established via legislation at the state level throughout the United States. Once securely established, absentee voting was zealously advocated at state Republican conventions — and, of course, through DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGNS to the GOP faithful specifically for the purpose of retaining the white majority’s political power.
You’re now upset that the new demographic majority know very well your game and clearly used it against your white supremacist carcasses in 2020.
You made your smelly, excrement-encrusted bed. SO — you have no choice. LIE IN IT.
Thus endeth the lesson.
Wow! Hell of a lesson, Sophie. Can’t imagine that old White supremacist Art is whittling his time laying in his excrement encrusted bed, thinking about your idiot comments. Art has some intellectual creds going on upstairs.
You ……, Not so much. The bad, brain-dead ones like yourself can be full expected to use old Left-wing name-calling and gutter language to state your case. And you aren’t very original either. All the Marxists, Democrats and America haters use the same worn-out playbook and tactics. You really don’t fit in at MRAK.
I am never sure whether lefties are lying or just stupid. The lefty hasn’t been born that is going to teach me a lesson about anything other than honing my skills at disguising my contempt for them when decorum demands it.
Either you’re too stupid to understand or are lying to conflate mail ballot voting and absentee ballot voting. Universal distribution of unsolicited and untracked mail ballots is simply a prescription for fraud. Absentee ballots have to be requested, the voter’s identity and eligibility can be verified, and the ballots can be audited. There is still some potential for fraud but it can be monitored, audited, and prosecuted.
Art, you can’t teach the stupid ones. But the liars can still be taken down. And you do.
Good comment!
Sophie needs to come in for a visit. My specialty is cerebellum re-alignment, not in the actual physical sense, but through de-programming in series of therapeutical analytics. People like Sophie have been thoroughly programmed and no longer can actualize reality. It’s a complex procedure and it has mixed results. The percentile for corrective therapy and rehabilitation from this type of Derangement is in the high teens. But I’d like to see Sophie get some treatment while she still has some ability to communicate, albeit very little. The program is somewhat similar to AA, where patients are kept on a shot leash. I accept insurance from AARP and the Democratic National Committee.
Dr. Dan, after Sophie pays you a visit for cerebral re-alignment, perhaps you can then refer her on to a specialist to help her with her cranial-rectal impaction, an extremely common and intellectually terminal affliction among radical leftists.
Give your pontificating its long-sought-after rest. He doesn’t want everyone to vote, said he from his OWN keyboard. FASCISM/RACISM stated unequivocally.
Thanks for your honesty — at last. You are one of those Deep South carpetbaggers I spoke of in these comments some time ago. The Alaska of my youth was a place healing from racism against Natives, and more subtly and insidiously, African Americans. Then, in the 1970s, we suffered a huge influx of persons like you from the Gulf States of the Deep South. Nasty racist and exclusionary attitudes began pervading our political life once again.
You’ve revealed yourself in this article and all your subsequent comments as an exemplar of the racist, exclusionary virus of which I spoke in other commentary here. I will not mourn when you finally pass to the next plane of existence.
AARP provides insurance for their psychotic senior members who require therapy? I thought
AARP just took money from old people and sent it directly to the Democratic Party.
All you have to do to control the outcome is control the counting, Why do we always have to fix things that are just not broken,
“Old man” Archibald! Your son-in-law–“meathead,” as you call him–indicated that he told you and George Jefferson to wake up to the fact that political parties are by their very nature social! Dummy-up, Archie, just as the Alaska Democratic Party had its Ad Hoc members, the Alaska Republican Party has its “scam and sham” members! Political operatives keep their true believers stirred up, occasionally roughs ’em up just to let them know who’s in charge, and extracts from them whatever it is that “tickles” their fancy! Only the very naive believe in the “purity” of political motives! Coming from Queens, you should know this! Then again, everybody can’t be in charge, so just toe the line and do as your told! Remember, though, if you grumble enough, one or two of your comrades just might begin to think that you know what you’re talking about and that you may be “material” for the central committee! Now Art’s a real fine thinker, don’t get into the habit of raising questions!
The reality is there are far more left of center voters in Anchorage and Alaska than conservative ones.
Note I didn’t differentiate Democrat/
Republican. In Alaska those designations are pointless. See Princess, Merrick, Von Imhof, ect for examples. Include our useless governor in that list.
The simple fact is conservatives don’t bother to vote. Totally disagree with Art on that front. The election results speak for themselves. Numbers don’t lie.
More conservatives don’t care to do the work necessary to win. Work is hard, but complaining is easy.
In fairness, considering the quality of so called “conservatives” we produce-Sarah Palin, Josh Revak- who can blame conservatives for staying out of things. Thank you Tuckerman Babcock.
Nothing prevents conservatives from doing the sort of campaigning, organizing, and fundraising the way the left does. Nothing except the laziness of conservatives. Al Gross flooded us with “volunteers” state wide whipping the vote for him. Swampy Dan?
Anchorage has had so many chances to change its representation it’s embarrassing. And almost every time, the liberals win big.
This is far bigger than mail in voting or voter apathy. This is the result of SF/Seattle immigration, public sector unions, and a near complete loss of faith in Alaska to actually generate a real conservative.
The numbers are what they are. Anchorage is a deep blue city. Juneau is genuinely saner than Anchorage.
Acceptance is the first step in actually dealing with issues.
Hear, hear!
Let me break this down another way. The left in Alaska are the New England Patriots. The conservatives are the Cleveland Browns.
One is a well oiled machine who plans, has discipline, learns from mistakes, and uses every page in the playbook (and some that aren’t) to win.
The other side are conservatives. Bad coaches, worse management, crappy players.
The left runs, passes, plays special teams and studies game film. Conservatives are distracted by shiny things (Palin), and refuse to learn how to run and do basics. They Hail Mary almost every race and pray for gimmicks (Palin again).
Keep pounding the drums as we MUST get back to in Person voting where we show ID, sign the book and then vote….
Agree Charlie, 100%!
A sane person doesn’t think taxation is confiscation, doesn’t throw around the word communist willy nilly, doesn’t think democrats are scamming the state by deciding to vote more than conservatives.
This author isn’t “center right”, he’s an extremist. You people have a long walk back to the center, a place without paranoied conspiracy theories.
Well, you have the right handle anyway.
You are an extremist painting an extreme picture.
Typically authors have enough self security and class to keep their hands off the comment section by the way. Sorry your article fell off the news algorithm so quickly Art, but maybe, just maybe, what you had to say holds little value to society.
Doofuss,
Shall I save a seat for you too? Sometimes group therapy is better that one-on-one. Democrats and Lefties are bargain hunters when it comes to paying their own bills.
You are aware that authors don’t engage in commentary. That rule applies with REPUTABLE periodicals. So — Suzanne — what is MRA?
Doofus, I will say it again, you chose your name here well.
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Taxation IS theft, radical leftist extremists like the Anchorage ass-embly’s Marxist Nine ARE communists, and democrats and the radical left HAVE manipulated the voting process to their advantage.
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And the reason why normal, rational, sane people do not fight these trends harder? Because they are busy raising their families, working hard, and living their lives, as opposed to you radical leftist extremists, who crave power and are willing to go to ANY lengths to achieve, and exercise, that power. We are quite simply at a disadvantage to you, because we are not sociopaths.
taxation isnt confiscation its theft under the threat of violence from the people with the monopoly on it
Actually, taxation is not confiscation or theft. As taxation is used these days, it is slavery.
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Why slavery? Why did I use such a polarizing word? Not because I think shocking is the same as clever, but because it is.
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Where does one get money from? They sell their time, skills, and labor to an employer. When the government takes a portion of the fruits of their labor, under penalty of law, it is taxation. But, that does not automatically make it slavery, that is more like confiscation.
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It is when the government uses that money for purposes that do nothing for the person paying the taxes that is becomes slavery. The government has a responsibility to provide for the common good. To provide things that would be prohibitively expensive for an individual to provide themselves. Roads, common defense, law enforcement, fire/safety services, etc… Your average person is not going to pay for a private army, or a public use road.
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Paying taxes to build public works projects, provide law enforcement, etc… is perfectly OK with me, as I benefit from that taxation. However, when the government chooses to spend my tax dollars on things I get no benefit from that is the equivalent of slavery.
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My labors are being used on things I get no benefit from against my will. How else would you describe it?
I’d call it community.
Ah, yes. The leftist always pushes for the collective. Thanks for being so predictable.
Why is it always the folks on the right side of the political aisle that need to move to the center? How come no one ever starts telling the AOCs and Bernies of the world that they need to be more moderate?
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However, you are correct about one thing. A sane person does not throw around the word communist (or marxist) willy nilly. They use it when appropriate and when the facts back them up. On the other hand, I hear racist and white supremacist used almost every other sentence from the left. Often without any reasonable data to back it up. Wonder what that says about the folks talking that way???
Remember when our bus stops were heated in the winter time, our elections were completed that night and most of all GOD was feared. Oath integrity from our oath takers is all we need oath takers. It’s a handful of oath breakers that did this to the citizens. Can you imagine mocking GOD it’s a handful of oath breakers.
I’ve always wondered why christians fear a loving heavenly father god.
And I have always wondered why radical leftists fear freedom.
Because mail ballots can be stolen & harvested it will always favor those without integrity.
I agree that this is an important point. Of course conservatives vote! We’re not lazy or apathetic. In general we are committed to following the rules, in elections and elsewhere. Simply stating that conservatives have lost power in Anchorage because they don’t vote, is, in itself, evidence that Leftists cheat and con’s more often do not.
Summary: Art Chance hates Democracy because it works.
Interesting. What, exactly, did Art say that makes you think he “hates” democracy? Can you provide a quote? Are you assuming that supporting a “one person = one vote” system means you hate democracy? Or is it the “do not send ballots to people who are not eligible to vote” bothering you? How is removing ineligible voters from the voter rolls a bad thing?
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Or are you of the opinion that either you love, celebrate, and encourage something, otherwise you hate it? Because Art Chance is not talking about how wonderful the system is, it means he hates it? Thank God he did not write a column about how bad traffic can be in construction zones. You would declare he hates road improvements.
No, actually, Bonehead, democracy does not work and never has, at least not for long. Democracy always fails when Boneheads like you turn it into mob rule. We are a republic with a constitution that establishes the terms of our democracy to keep people like you from screwing it up.
As a term of art, how does “Chairman Chance” sound? Why even Dunleavy was bright enough to learn that there is nothing quite like Art’s “tools of the trade!”
Art: it was your side, the far far Right extremists, that attempted to screw up our democracy on January 6. You own that treason.
Lucinda,
Looks like you’ll be coming in to see me too. Please leave all your dope at home. We don’t do contraindicated drugs after I put you on psychotropics for your derangement disorder. You might be an exceptionally long case.
Interesting perspective Lucinda. Please share more.
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What exactly happened on Jan 6th that could be considered an attempt to screw democracy? There was a demonstration. When the people got to the Capital, the USCP basically threw the doors wide open, and invited the demonstrators in. With the exception of a few troublemakers, the overwhelming (approaching 100%) majority of the people were extremely well behaved.
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Let’s also add there is some pretty damning evidence that several “agent provocateurs” were in the crowd, and were responsible for all the damage to the building.
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I am curious if you think this is an insurrection? Because, I generally like my insurrections to be a bit more violent than this one was. Seriously, do insurrectionists stay within the velvet ropes and speak politely with the police?
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By the way. Who is Ray Epps? And, why doesn’t the DOJ seem interested in finding and questioning him?
None of what you say is true. I cannot fathom why a freedom-loving patriot like you would defend a planned, violent, deadly attempt to violate the constitution and murder the vice president. What could possibly be in it for you?
Ahhh…. Lucinda. None are so blind as those that choose not to see.
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“None of what you say is true.”
“…deadly attempt to violate the constitution and murder the vice president.”
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OK, prove it.
Show me.
What’s frightening is that there are so many people, mostly young and college educated who are so ignorant, brain-washed, and incapable of critical thinking that they buy any gaslighting operation the communists, excuse me, Democrats throw up. You fools bought the Russian Collusion gaslight operation, the Ukraine phone call gaslight operation, you lapped up the Whitmer Kidnapping operation, and you’re hanging onto the Jan. 6th charage to try to convince some blue city jury of 12 morons with drivers’ licences that certain politicians engaged in insurrection so you can try to use the 14th amendment to bar them from office.
You’d better pray to whatever even entity you on the left worship that you hold on to power in the forthcoming elections. If we on the right regain control of the government orange jumpsuits will be the new fashion rage.
Yes, but Art, business in the psychotherapy world is going to be booming.
I see that anger has the better of you today. There are facts out there, real, documented events and because you are hobbled by ideology, you ignore or twist the evidence. Its not a healthy way to live.
Art:
I have no doubt the folks on the left will disagree with you on this: “and incapable of critical thinking…”
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See, when they went to college to get their masters degree in hyphenated-American studies, they learned critical thinking skills. And, I will fully support them in their assertion.
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The problem is they learned critical thinking along the lines of Karl Marx, and his support for critical theory. The operative word there is ‘critical’, not thinking/theory/whatever. Marx knew that his political ideals would not be accepted by people if they were enjoying the benefits of a free market economy. So, it was necessary to push a mindset of “look only at the flaws, not the benefits.” This is being applied across the board, under the guise of critical thinking.
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What critical theory does is forces one to focus strictly on the flaws in any system. It requires one to ignore any benefits. So… the average leftist indoctrinate individual does in fact practice critical thinking. They criticize anything they do not like solely because it is not perfect. Because it has flaws.
Wanting to hold a sign in front of the Capitol building, or inside it, makes someone a “far, far right extremist”? Is it just that you don’t agree with what was written on the signs that makes them “far, far right extremists”?
Respectfully urging people to go home, via Twitter, is not treason. Neither is trying to strong arm the leader of a foreign country into coming clean about corruption in his government, and who’s behind it.
That’s some weak tea Kent. Some of your “sign holders” wanted to hang the Vice President of the United States of America. That matters to me. And kill Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of the United States of America. The domestic terrorists like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys assaulted the Capitol Police. Do you oppose law enforcement? January 6 was a violent assault on democracy, an attempt to violate the constitution! Marjorie Taylor-Greene wanted Trump to invoke Marshall [sic] law before the swearing in. That’s blatant authoritarianism. That’s the same claim you conservatives make against liberals.
The violent insurrection by domestic terrorists was PLANNED by Trump and his flying monkeys based on the absurd, disproven claim that Biden stole the election. How can you be a citizen and a patriot if you defend this?
Merely imputing motives is just that imputing bad motives. Who are you, Jesus Christ?
Yes, G. Galeutian, I am, in fact, Jesus Christ.
Sadly, very true of the election situation in Alaska. I was wondering how all those communists got elected to the assembly, and now I know.
You know! In the bible book of Ruth there are two men faced the same isreal famine, you know facing differcult time. The first man elimelech, he thought be best of him to move away from bethlehem and relocate
to the moab country, a pagen idolatry country that also worshipped molech- the baby killer. Oh boy! I wonder how that turned out? According to Ruth not good. Then there is man 2 boaz, he chose to endure the hardship staying on his ancestor’s land, and his commitment through the lean years paid good dividends making him prosperous and a town leader at the city gate. Boaz made the right choice weathering the famine years. Anchorage will never see this mail in ballot repealed if people knowing what is right and use a fair weight measure system determining judgements, they do what elimlech done move away or remove anchorage’s one conservative stronghold district, which its conservative organizers can be inspiration for conservatives living in the 8 other districts to organize themselves better for holding council, board and commission position. Change for better never come when discouraged people move away and run away. If consertative leaders, the ones who know the ropes for leading left like transients, then that leaves the residents not agreeing with the current minority who holds a political majority at their mercy. And! With or without conservative leaders and activists staying on if they think like elimlech and choose leaving, the church still needs to increase its service efforts bringing and teaching God’s word through out the neighborhoods, besides only attending physical needs.
One thing that vote by mail has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that the vast majority of your family, your friends, and your neighbors don’t care. Even with the simple task of filling an oval with a pen and putting a ballot in the mail is too much effort for well over 50% of the public. If you want conservatives to vote then YOU need to talk to your family, friends, and neighbors and get them to vote, whether it’s by mail or in person.
Vote by mail is categorically and without a doubt a perversion of our voting system as there is no chain of custody to ensure ballots are not tampered with, destroyed, or otherwise diluted.
Steve-O: Tell that to the Heritage Foundation. Since 2006, Colorado, with its Mail-Only voting system, had only five cases of voter fraud leading to criminal convictions according to a database maintained by the Heritage Foundation.
That’s right —
The Paul Weyrich Heritage Foundation.
You know Paul. Don’t you? Good Ol’ Paul also founded the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which eventually crafted voter suppression legislation that spread like a cancer throughout every Red State legislature in the United States.
Paul stated his goal for all his “conservative” machinations and instrumentalities with brutal clarity:
“I don’t want everybody to vote.”
Yeah…THAT Heritage Foundation.
“…had only five cases of voter fraud leading to criminal convictions according to a database maintained by the Heritage Foundation.”
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Here is the important phrase in your statement: “…leading to criminal convictions…” When the state of Colorado chooses not to investigate complaints, press charges, or indict individuals accused of vote fraud, you will not get convictions. Same thing is happening in most liberal run states. The choose to turn a blind eye to voter fraud, thus no convictions.
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Just because there is no conviction does not mean a crime was not committed. OJ Simpson was acquitted, but that does not mean Nicole Brown was not murdered. Tell me, if someone were to steal Sophie’s car, and there was never a conviction of the thief, would you sleep comfortably at night knowing that no crime happened?
There is never any voter fraud in the Blue places because first nobody with law enforcement authority ever looks for it and second, the communists have manipulated the voting schemes to make the elections unauditable.
I don’t want everybody to vote either; starting with illegal aliens. You should have to pass the basic citizenship test administered to naturalizing citizens to register to vote. That would eliminate the majority of those who went to government school or college in the last forty years or so.
You should add this clause to your citizenship test requirement:
“No male person who was on January 1st, 1867, or at any date prior thereto, entitled to vote under the Constitution or statutes of any State of the United States, wherein he then resided, and no son or grandson of any such person not less than twenty-one years of age at the date of the adoption of this Constitution, and no male person of foreign birth, who was naturalized before the first day of January, 1898, shall be denied the right to register and vote in this State by reason of his failure to possess the educational or property qualifications prescribed by this Constitution …”
And — simply admit you want ONLY White men to hold the franchise.
The quoted text is from Louisiana’s Reconstruction-era Constitution. Various versions of said document were implemented throughout the Deep South.
But then, you probably know that — since you were there when they were enacted.
That provision, and others like it in other states of the former Confederate States was not about limiting the franchise but rather to keep the US from limiting it, at least in state and local elections.
Southerners who served in the Confederate armies or government were stripped of the right to vote. For some that deprivation was forever, or at least for an indeterminate time, for most it could be restored upon the swearing of an oath of allegiance to the US; many refused to take the oath. This provision in state law allowed them to vote in state and local elections whether or not they could vote in federal elections.
Well, I’m not quite old enough to have been there, but I grew up with the ghosts in the closet of my family home who were there, so I have some familiarity with the subject.
I’m perfectly fine with not everyone voting, we aren’t a democracy we are a constitutional republic. Some, or more accurately most, make their opinions know by not voting as is their choice in this country. I certainly wish more people would become informed and take part in our right to vote, but I don’t want every idiot casting a ballot for President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho.
ummmm….look what PALMER just did! This was a “special election” yet a 17% voter turn out (higher than a normal election) which resulted in the recall of 3 hard left-leaning council members who had violated the law by meeting in secret. Palmer has mail-in, too! But b/c people showed up to vote them out! It’s my understanding there were also poll watchers. A handful of un-paid volunteers do 99% of the work during cold dark winter and early spring months. Thankfully this time, their efforts paid off and locals came out to vote. W/O the voter, other efforts are worthless.
I’m sorry but I don’t agree with Art article. Around 14% of the voting population in Anchorage elected this assembly. I believe that there are many more people on the right then on the left in Anchorage. I know on my side of the town the candidate running for the assembly on the right just did not work hard enough to get people out to vote and that is why she lost.
To win elections, we need to get people in office who are willing to address the fraud.
To get people in office who are willing to address the fraud, we need to win elections.
I’m with about addressing the voter fraud.
So, if you would, James, please address the voter fraud of Trump’s chief of staff, stalwart fascist Mark Meadows and his spouse. What say you about the fact they were simultaneously registered as voters in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia during the 2020 election and beyond?
James?
Ohhh…. let me answer for James on this one.
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Simply being registered in more than one state is not voter fraud. That is a failure on the part of the State to keep their voter rolls clean.
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Voting in more than one state is fraud. Do you have any evidence whatsoever that Meadows voted in more than one state?
It is easy to be registered in more than one state and it isn’t illegal. In most states a voter must explicitly ask the election authority to remove them from the rolls if they move to another state. If they don’t, and few do, it takes years for them to be purged as inactive voters. My daughter remained a registered voter at her old address in Juneau for years after she moved to Seattle.
It is however a crime and a fraud to vote in more than one, a favorite of snowbirding Democrats who vote mail or in person in one state and absentee in another. The Democrats have an active program of encouraging college students to remain registered at their home address and also register in their colllege town so they can vote in both.
Al Gross (CA)
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Sarah Palin (AZ)
Would you do the same ‘no harm no-fault’ jig if:
‘https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/fighting-voter-suppression/crystal-mason-thought-she-had-right-vote-texas
Your comment on John Weddleton was right on. I live in Midtown and had issues with him when he supported the Commies on the Anchorage Assembly that proposed moving Homeless Shelters into midtown locations near schools and businesses to “share the pain”. Yet he refused to suggest or support any such “pain sharing” in his OWN district. After complaining to him in an email that he was a hypocrite, he responded that he sat outside a proposed location in midtown for about an hour and was able to therefore determine that the midtown location was suitable for a homeless shelter. Yet he didn’t take the time to research any similar areas in his OWN district. Fortunately, the folks in just South of midtown in his district are smarter than the goofball voters in midtown and got rid of him. I congratulate and thank them!
Eliminating an option to vote is the goal? Wow!!!! Keep in mind, this is something that both sides can access. Ever read, “Good to Great?” Level five leadership doesn’t blame the circumstances, the economy, the pandemic, the other team, they adjust fire and grow in the area where they need to. If you have a solid message, committed people and the ability to use all of the same tools as the other side, stop the sniveling and get after the vote. Don’t try and rigg the game by looking for a reason to stop mail in voting, something that both sides have equal access to, that’s not taking the high rode, that is shady business.
Join the stupid and see below regarding the intrinsic advantage of organized groups such as unions; maybe, though unlikely, you’ll learn something.
Fad biz books for the young and stupid have a short shelf life that “Good to Great” has faded away; the writer bought into a lot of scams, but then the professorial types usually do. Those who can, do; those who can’t teach or write.
Art completely failed to make the case that the headline promised. Mail-in voting applies equally to all parties. None are favored.
Reading comprehension is not exactly your strong suit, is it?
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Please re-read what Art said, and understand the points he makes. Just because ballots are mailed out to everyone doesn’t mean it is equal. Other factors come into play, and a particular side of the political aisle can, and will take advantage of those factors. Art does a good job pointing out those factors, and explaining how one side can (and does) take advantage of them.
You are either hopelessly dense or simply lying. Mail-in voting dramatically favors organized groups such as unions and other leftist interest groups. Nobody is giving Republicans an up to date contact list of their potential voters prepared at public expense.
So are you griping because democrats are better organized than republicans?
What the left has done against the publics will is to appropriate the mission of the USPS which is come rain, snow, sleet, hail or shine deliver to the publics’ to their mail. I want my mail. It was interfered with by political processes comandeering the postal agecies assets and manhours for mail service and exchanging it for division of elections preferred protocols instead. It has made mail service nearly impossible. That’s ok with you. You love impedence. You are all about it.
That is absolutely pants-on-fire nuts! Louis DeJoy, Trump’s appointed postmaster general did his damndest to hobble the postal service and hamper access to ballots before the 2020 election. Trump and the Right are responsible.
Sir, your logic would have caused the under dogs in history to go home with their tails between their legs, Grant, Washington, Lincoln, Sherman, Churchill and on and on. They could have hashed up all of the reasons that they were losing important battles throughout their wars, but guess what, they were pretty dense too, because they didn’t do that, they had grit and determination, even in the face of ungodly odds that would have discouraged most quivering jelly spined keyboard warriors, again, I say, get after the vote and stop pointing fingers. Ever been on the wrestling mat, the court, the track, had the elbow unseen by the referee, the toe stepped on, the low blow, do you throw your hands up and throw in the towel and throw a temper tantrum? Man up, stop pointing fingers and sell your story. You seek to bash the competition because they are taking advantage of their strengths, be innovative, press into your strengths, find your advantage, don’t try to strip the opponents of their ability to do what you aren’t, being successful with their resources, energy, organizational tactics, come up with your own, identify, organize and execute.
So what?
If, in the marketplace of ideas, you cannot compete with the likes of unions and other organized entities — advocating the rights of human workers, regardless of ethnicity color, or religion — it is CLEAR — you must lose your gambit to acquire their loyalty and votes
Therefore, you must expect my support or aid no further.
Wasn’t all bad news. South Anchorage did manage to bounce one of the majority, turning a 9-2 majority into 8-3. Also defeated the two largest bond packages.
Agree completely that the left installed mail-in voting because it favors electing lefties. But WE WILL NEVER BE RID OF IT unless we install enough like minded people. This means we need to do whatever it is the left is doing better than they are doing. Additionally, it occurs to me that all the incessant whining and bellyaching about mail-in voting is unintentionally (or intentionally) suppressing voting on Our Side. Our side tends to stay home for a variety of reasons. The Other Side knows it and works that angle every single election.
Whining about mail-in voting works a lot like your favorite sports team whining about a bad call in the middle of a game. When that happens the other team usually is running the other direction for a layup, touchdown or election win. Don’t give them a free path.
From here, it appears the Other Side spent most of their resources simply turning out their voters. Ads were minimal until the usual round of “(s)he was mean to me” last minute ads. Given what happened in South Anchorage and with the bonds, we have untapped potential. Overall turnout was similar in size to the last few Muni elections.
My message to Art (and I love Art) and his cheerleaders is: Buck up buttercup. Figure out how to win. Pick better candidates. Turn out Our voters. Win some elections. And stop bellyaching about mail-in voting. Because the longer we complain, the longer we concentrate on things other than winning elections. Republicans in Cali are figuring out how to work with vote harvesting. We best get off the dime and figure out how to work mail-in voting. Cheers –
I’m disappointed in the election outcome, but I’m not surprised. The typical means of reaching me are snail mail, email, YouTube ads, and google ads (possibly FB, but limited time on that). I do not view local TV broadcasts and occasionally listen to AM or FM radio in the car. Anecdotally, the most effective means of getting my attention is YouTube.
On YouTube, I saw a 5-second ad for Zaletel on every single video and skipped a 30-second ad for Weddleton on every other video or ad break for weeks. ZERO ads for anyone else running in any district. I had dig to figure out who the conservatives were, and I was looking.
Currently, Murkowski’s 20-second ads have been running for weeks proclaiming her greatness. I’ve received several e-mails from Josh Revak for the house seat, so I know he’s alive and kicking, otherwise crickets. The lack of outreach over modern mediums tells me Republicans are disorganized, broke, or ignorant; likely all three to some degree. Just name recognition alone is huge since we have so many crackpots running for office, especially under the Republican hat.
I’ve enjoyed listening to Art on the radio and your articles, but I wouldn’t spend political or financial capital chasing what amounts to a technical issue like mail in ballots and fear mongering the security just makes conservative voters feel their vote doesn’t count.
Yes, unions may be more organized and provide votes and you know someone is voting for their mother with dementia, but this is a battle for another day, like one with a conservative majority.
Cbbmtek: the format of the comments section of MRAK is a bit clunky otherwise I would have eviscerated your earlier post.
Lucinda, when it comes to attempted intellectual evisceration here, you should beware, armed as you are with only a plastic butter knife of rhetoric
Just checking in. I am looking forward to the evisceration. I welcome the debate.
Feel free to do so now. I am eager to see how you eviscerate my comment. Please, copy and paste works just fine here. Grab my comment, and please refute every point I make in a reply to this comment.
Thanks!
No, Art did NOT explain any of the “factors” of the mail in voting that might skew to democrats an advantage. It’s just not there. And, uh, well, “evisceration” might have been overstated. How about competently refuted?
Please. Competently refute.
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I am more than happy to hear your side of the issue. Perhaps there are things I am unaware of. Help me out here.
The fact that you could not comprehend it doesn’t mean I didn’t explain it.
Art:
Not worth the effort. Lucinda is acting (in my opinion) like a childish bully. Always right, and when questioned, makes exaggerated claims about how they will demolish you. About how their intellect (or physical capabilities) are so much superior to yours.
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When further challenged on that front, they disappear. Too busy doing something else, or making excuses. She made her stance perfectly clear on another article. “A Republican vote is a vote against Democracy.” That kind of closed minded bias is impossible to argue against.
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