By BOB BIRD
The proud American union is a union by force — as was feared with Patrick Henry’s warning in 1788, and later proved by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861.
That’s what we have, and we have made the best of it, despite our history that spilled much American and native blood to achieve it. Each state is uniquely different, and the circumstances of admission changed as the frontier moved westward.
Look at the 1785 map of the U.S. shortly after we won our independence. Because of western land claims, we might have had “Chicago, Connecticut”, “Milwaukee, Massachusetts,” or “Memphis, North Carolina”.
The American states have operated under three different authorities, beginning with an unwritten provisional government in 1776. After the Treaty of Paris yielded British territory as far as the Mississippi River, the supposedly weak and ineffective Articles of Confederation — our first written constitution — convinced states that their land claims west of the Appalachians were unrealistic. As settlers moved west, Congress drew up new states, matching equal sovereignty with the Original Thirteen, and a harmonious union emerged … for a time.
As land was acquired through treaties, wars and purchases, the size of the U.S. became increasingly unwieldy, and the federal government assumed more centralized powers. The 14th state, Vermont, denying the claims of both New Hampshire and New York, declared its own sovereignty and then applied for admission to the union, but this was not a good template for the future.
Congress designed unorganized territories, organized territories and states based on the whims of committees and their chairmen. They were as wise as they were foolish, depending on the geography, native considerations and emerging economies and culture. Slavery created tensions that mandated compromises, which although were creative, merely swept the dirt under the rug, leading to the great war and federal power grab of the 1860s – 70s.
Our third constitution, which we call The Constitution with a capital “C”, likely anticipating that committees often make grotesque and misshapen mistakes, permitted the re-drawing of state boundaries with the following proviso in Article IV, Sec. 3:
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
Tennessee was fractured off from North Carolina in 1796 and Maine from Massachusetts in 1820. Then we tread into dangerous waters, because the state of West Virginia was illegally created in 1863, just one of the many drastic and dangerous constitutional overthrows under Lincoln’s supposedly avuncular and wise hand. Indeed, it was a good move for the people of those western counties of Virginia. But “good” does not necessarily mean “constitutional”, and by paying indemnity to Virginia well into the 20th century, a de facto apology was made.
Now we live in an era of ideological separation, and it is becoming intolerable. It is a “rural” versus “urban” divide, and with it comes warped perceptions of reality from the poor souls who live in the asphalt jungles of our decaying urban zones. They have never seen a farm, sat in a small town café, smelled manure, or inhaled the delicious fragrance of the forests that are only a few miles away, even in New York.
Chicago continues to sprawl from its dark and filthy slums into the flatlands of Illinois, as people escape from crime and ugliness, yet bring with them the untenable ideas of socialism to pollute new areas. The same has occurred in New Hampshire and southern Maine from the Boston area. Then ask anyone in Montana, Nevada, Idaho or Arizona if they fear the same problem from Californians who bring their socialist baggage with them, even as they escape the results of those policies.
Eastern Washington and Oregon, northern California, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and Minnesota, and downstate Illinois are locked in the tyrannical bear hug of socialism that their population centers force upon them. It translates into government corruption, high taxes, public school indoctrination, atheistic political correctness and the loss of freedom and evils of the fake Climate Change Cult.
Alaska is not immune to this. Southeast Alaska has little in common with the road system (which includes Prudhoe Bay), and the road system has little in common with Southeast or the Arctic and western villages. It is political suicide to say this, but I am not an elected official, so I will do it: Southeast lives off of the productivity of the road system, is a two-day drive through a foreign country to reach, and demands that the road system pay for the sustenance of its economic livelihood.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Southeast has an untapped mining and logging economy, but it is locked up by the federal Green Lobby that it seems to worship. While its cultural focus is on Seattle, Southeast demands that the state capital remain with them, defying the will of the people that has never been changed since 1974. It would seem that if they like their lifestyle of tourism and a stagnant economy, they ought to apply for admission to Washington state — if Washington would want to assume this albatross around their necks.
This cannot last much longer. America and Alaska are going broke, and must undergo an authentic re-shuffling, whether it be a geographic or an ideological one. It will hopefully be one of our own making, uncontrolled by the evil forces of communism that exist in Pacific Rim foreign governments, with their bought and willing enemies of freedom within our own ranks.
Bob Bird is former chair of the Alaskan Independence Party and the host of a talk show on KSRM radio, Kenai.
This article is a bunch of grievances dressed up in 11th grade fancy words. 1/10, you have failed to make a case for anything except “me mad, kids on lawn, imaginary communists everywhere.” Shut up, dude.
Jimmy, quite a negative rant… Please explain exactly why the lion share of the state must continue to care for the welfare recipients that inhabit the Southeast of our state? Have you noticed that the residents of Juneau do not share the same ideology as the rest of the state? Yet every year, the transplanted blue hordes from the west coast of America are bringing their socialism north, and expect the rest of us to blindly follow. Have you noticed that the operation of our government is fully hampered by sequestering the legislators hundreds of miles away that is fully separated from the core, ideologically separated? For a state that is, minus oil money, largely broke, we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on this non-working extravagance. Try this, get a job, work hard, spend your own money on what you want, save what you can for the future and be happy caring for yourself, donate to care for others as you wish, but most importantly, keep your greedy hands off everyone else’s money. Also, show some respect for Mr. Bird. He has done more for this state than you have or ever will. If you can’t do that, “Shut up dude”…
Jimmy the non-producing, indoctrinated, whiner, who can’t seem to get out of his parent’s basement and move on into the real world.
Another self-indulged, government services user who’s hate for functional, independent people is derived out of envy against those who work hard and buy nice things with their own money. Jimmy the left-wing, wacked out Democrat, who can only engage in little put downs, because that’s the only way he can feel accomplished in an otherwise unaccomplished life.
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Good job, Mr. Bird. You sure know how to irritate these sniveling, runny-nosed Marxist losers.
In Anchorage, our kids can’t read or do math. We have a declining student population and now our school budget clears $630,000,000. Our assembly wants to burn down a major power plant and city water system. Green New Scammers and “Non-Profits” pillage the tax dollars of people who get up, pack their lunches, and go to work on behalf of their fellow man.
Mr. Bird isn’t far off the mark when read through my glasses.
Speaking of 11th grade he did teach that level for a number of years so perhaps he has stayed in character. Hey Bob, could you look up which states provide the most revenue for the country and see if you can cobble together an overall red/blue contrast for us. Diving deeper you might see a rural/urban tax collection discrepancy also.
This article makes a lot sense.
We have become two distinct peoples in this country. We need to separate as we do not have shared values, goals, or religion. To do so will avoid the inevitable violence if we do not separate, as one side tries to impose their will on the other – who does not wish to live like them or with them.
Jimmy,
You can’t see the transformation that Alaska and our nation is going through? Just Amazing.
Been up north now 45 years, most my adult life. I migrated up from North Central Idaho. I still go down to Idaho at least once a year. I’ve seen the transformation that has happened with the migration of California and what there values have done to Idaho. Alaska is following suite with the influx of people with there same values they left with.
Just look at the transformation that has happened in Anchorage. It used to be a place where you could work hard, play hard and make a decent living, and enjoy what Alaska has to offer. I left there in the mid 80’s and moved to the valley.
Fortunately I had a successful career that afforded me extensive travel all over coastal Alaska, from the Canadian border north to all over SE Alaska. I’ve seen the changes and it’s not good. So many of these area’s & communities are now so co-dependent on the government for their very existence.
So if you haven’t seen this transformation that Mr. Bird is talking about, it’s a shame.
I agree with the long-term scenario. We must decide is “we the people” of Alaska, control Alaska or if we continue to allow outside or different interests to control our destiny.
I, too, wish that Bob had given more definition to what he means by “reshuffling.” What do you suggest, Bob? Succession from the US? Southeast to become it’s own state?
Secession.
Wayne great one word solution but what half of this”Great State ” will be something of the State of freedom when the 219 Million Acres of purchased federal land that will never be givin up by the “Military State” or by the ” Environmental Nutjobs in Parkland “. Our only hope is live it out we ( you & I ) have only 20 some more years (of left to suffer) through, at our State of Regulation by the Juneau Communist rule ! So much for “North to the future……Failure ” living the dreams of the past! Prayer gives us some interstation to dwell on, Amen Brother! Great think piece Bob !
If the road system doesn’t want the albatross of south east around their neck, kick the Feds and Washington out. Who let them in, anyway?
“…….Who let them in, anyway?……..”
Tsar Alexander II, Grand Duke Konstantin, and Minister Eduard de Stoeckl. And thank God they did.
Shoulda’ been careful who you let in after the oil was discovered…………
Jay the Largest LAND OWNER!
People with their hands out let them in. Where’d all them seiners come from? Who owns all them gillnetters on the beach. Why do Washington brokers advertise Alaska permits for sale? Why do the feds own so much beachfront property in Ketchikan? The Forest Service (Smokeys’ got a gun and a bullet-proof vest) own an entire city block downtown competing with local businesses (maybe “competing” is the wrong word).
“………Why do Washington brokers advertise Alaska permits for sale?……..”
Because the Legislature decided to grant them as personal property instead of a state resource. Stupidity, corruption, and greed universally come with a very steep price.
I know plenty of noble savages who want to de-colonize. I guess they don’t want to be part of a 40 trillion dollar ponzi scheme. It seems like it was yesterday I was saying “thirty trillion”.
I believe Alaska’s #1 mistake is having our capital in Juneau, a place that is not connected to the road system. We send our elected official to a remote location inhabited by public sector workers and Outside lobbyists. Makes more sense to have the capital in Bellingham.
Our #2 mistake is the PFD. The purpose of public sector resources should not be to reward people for having a pulse. But I’m a libertarian, without the wacky stuff.
The capital of many states is remote from population centers: Albany, Salem, Olympia, Sacramento, etc. The fact is, most Americans are unconcerned where their state capital is. More meaningful issues occupy their attention other than state government. Alaska, on the other hand, is primarily a government-centric culture; we are dominated by the overbearing influence of government (not the least of which is state government). Hence, the irrational obsession with where the capital is located.
I would be okay with moving the capital. However, that would devastate the Juneau economy in which I am invested. Since such a move would be a deliberate choice of voters, then everyone in Juneau should be fairly compensated for their economic losses due to such a move. It seems only right since our government commonly compensates people for natural disasters which, unlike a capital move, the voters do not willfully and deliberately vote for.
Sacrademented is not remote from pop canters. Ite just over an hour from the Bay Area. I know,from personal experience. Its become its own population center. With the attendant crowds and traffic snarls it’dbe such a bummer to disrupt the feeding of the parasite known as Juneau. But the health of the host needs to be considered, lest both be weakened excessively
Wayne did you skip over this part of Bob’s thoughts on point ” It translates into government corruption, high taxes, public school indoctrination, atheistic political correctness and the loss of freedom and evils of the fake Climate Change Cult.” as your neighbors in the Mendenhall Glacier Valley get ready for another government handout…. with strings attached! Flood Zone 2,0! Permits galore! More Government Regulation, Suck it up Brother. There is money to be made on the suffering Government plays that Harp….Ask Nick Jr !
Pretty much nothing in the lower 48 is remote. You can pretty much drive to any location. Not true in AK. Much is rural, most is remote. Most of our communities are not accessible by vehicle. Including Juneau. As you know, that’s because most voters in Juneau don’t want a road. Why would they. Juneau is pretty much immune to business cycles.
Your concern over personal financial implications is political risk, which is a real risk.
PFD is not a mistake nor is it “public sector resources.” It is the people’s money, our share of the oil wealth. Those who steal it are thieves. That the Legislature mishandles it under the bad decision and direction of the court is a crime.
“…….It is the people’s money……..”
Those are public funds. Period. And those who claim otherwise are the thieves.
Use all the twisted logic you can, fact is the PFD sucks the oxygen out of the room every legislative session. If the PFD makes so much sense then why don’t other states allocate revenue from state resources to UBI?
In 1973, my social studies teacher spoke of the coming divide between urban and rural. He stated that it also closely matched the divide between productive and non-productive (suburban being the hybrid inhabited largely by factory workers). For 50 years I have watched verification of his predictions. Key among his statements was also that megacities existed to concentrate masses of those allowed to exist only for votes to dominate the productive. “Give them just enough to get by, never enough to get ahead.”
The farther people become separated from the land, nature, the further they separate from reality. Put a man and 99 women on an island and in a century what do you have? A man and 99 trans? Natural law in inviolable. While some might bend it for a while, it will always win. We are from dust and will return to dust. We are from the land, whether we grow it, get it second hand from the market, or tenth hand from the store.
And remember, civilization is built by people with dirty hands and destroyed by people in suits.
“…….It doesn’t have to be this way………”
Apparently, it does. 5,000 years of recorded history and 100,000 years of forensic history proves that there will always be tyrants, there will always be malcontents, and those of us caught in the middle will always be burdened with them.
Meet the new boss………Same as the old boss………We will be fooled again…………
This is spot on. Also, much of the suport for those western villages comes from the productivity of the road system.
Birdie, you’re on a roll. Don’t let the fruitcakes tell you differently! Why not throw in with me and undertake the fledgling’s task of reorganizing not only the United States but all of North America while I organize the rest of the world to meet my specifications. Damn anybody who’d be so audacious as to make a peep against us–no pun intended, Birdie. Think of the silky gowns and the sparkling jewels that you’d be able to lavish on your beloved sweeties. Don’t forget them fancy feasts that’ll be thrown for you–and all them toasts that’ll be made in your honor.
“……..throw in with me and undertake the fledgling’s task of reorganizing not only the United States but all of North America while I organize the rest of the world to meet my specifications……..”
Tongue-in-cheek, but spot on. There are currently 93 states, provinces, and territories in North America. After the world-class bloodbath that would undeniably occur during the American divorce, any “reshuffling” would most certainly result in more than the current three nations, thus essentially a Europizing of North America; 50 or so sovereign nations on the continent. There’s a recipe for eternal warfare.
The bottom line is that if you can’t make this work with the current constitution, you can’t dream up a new system that will. And if you try, the next W.T. Sherman will eventually march over your existence on his way to the sea, and you’ll have the next few centuries to try to rebuild.
Bob, your post brings up multiple pressing issues worth considering in depth. The original precepts upon which the US was founded were abandoned before all the authors were deceased. The mythology of a Republic narrative has simply been useful to habituate the population to accept rule by an administrative state. The US and Western Europe are toast, the historically recent and novel concept of “democratic” governance by citizens themselves, rule of law and the Christian basis for generally accepted morals for healthy and strong families have been abandoned. Alaska was administratevly set up as a colony. The power does not, and never has rested with the citizens by design. The wealth generated by the pipeline providing access for critical oil transport to export should have been used to build statewide infrastructure to build up on an actual functioning state. Or, the purchase of our Independence from the US. Instead, like vultures on a fresh kill, multitudes of both local and outside scammers swooped in, like the Murkowskis, to create a massive state government, concentrating power, skimming wealth and creating a dependent population on grants and regulations designed to exclude small family business. Our state government facilitates control by the interests who control the utterly failed federal policies. A complete collapse of the mythical narrative which describes our printed paper grant/subsidy based system an “economy” in the US and Europe is imminent. In theory Alaska could weather and ultimately thrive when the lower US implodes into depression. But our populace is urbanized and in rural areas ghettoized, lazy, divided and dependent on a class system whose elites are dysfunctional and incompetent. The ensuing chaos resulting if and likely when the daily outside barges end, supplying the stores will commence within hours. No emergency preparedness plans exist, we can’t even operate an open and honest election process.
A demographic reshuffle is in order. America and Europe are being overrun by low IQ primitives.
A civil war will deliver that demographic shuffle with sudden and overwhelming efficiency. Our last such attempted divorce resulted in the deaths of 2% of the American population. At today’s population, that would equate to @ 6.7 million souls of various IQ levels.
Arrogance and pride can be costly.
Reggie isn’t that what RATS do when they have ate themselves out of food in a confined space! Hang in there, we’re almost there!
Americans have more than enough food, and they have more than enough room (if they maintain the sane immigration laws that are currently being ignored). What Americans also unfortunately have are way too many revolutionaries, idiots, malcontents, and criminals. But, then, a civil war can and will finally deal effectively with those problems, so please proceed………the sooner, the better…….
Extremely disappointed with you Bob, in reading with a open mind and a Southeast resident all my live (86). the belief that we are, outside of the political grief, all together Alaskans, I continue to believe that. Yes, Southeast has become a tourist tax base due to your thoughts regarding the Federal overreach affecting all we could be. Would you make the effort to discuss this with President Trump, assuming his re-election? It would seem the last and best chance to bridal Alaska’s potential. I close in good nature, pray you will not suffer the toothache of a foul smelling camel.
Cheers,
A.M.Johnson-Ketchikan
“…….Extremely disappointed with you Bob……..”
Yeah, me, too.
Al you are correct with 86 years of wisdom ” all together Alaskans, I continue to believe that” Maybe in prayer! Think ” North to the Future” and keep Looking UP when in prayer!
The author misses the obvious in this piece.
Alaska, writ large, including the roaded system from Homer to Deadhirse and everyplace in between, is still basically a ward of the federal government. Way, way more federal funds flow into Alaska than are shipped out via income and other taxation or revenue generation means.
Alaska is, in reality, an allocative lpolitical set up with obvious socialistic a redistributive elements, at best. At our worst (and that’s much of the time), Alaska’s collective public decision making in terms of legislative and executive branch functions is a goofball socialist gong show.
The number of actual hard-bellied, tough, seriously working men or seriously diligent and engaged women who add real value in an independent way to the economic and social construct in Alaska without some sort of transfer payment or other subsidy from the federal, state or local government up here in the Lost Frontier could easily fit inside the large auditorium in the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage. Everybody else is pretty much just crammed into the bus and along for the ride.
Alaska’s economy is more of a dirigisme form of governance than anything close to a market based arrangement. All the chatter about independence, the promotion of advancement of ideas and individuals based on merit up here in Alaska is mostly hogwash. Much of what is possible up here is based on who you know, has too little to do with actual enterprise or even hard work.
Alaska is rapidly becoming like West Virginia only with bigger mountains, longer rivers and fewer people.
Whining about what happens or doesn’t in Dee Cee or even down in Juneau is emblematic of ignorance and a reflection of magical thinking disconnected from reality.
We’ve had a good, mostly free ride up here for decades. The party’s pretty much over. The unpaid bill for the frivolity that has characterized our policies and politics for years is rapidly coming due. We spent way too much of our public oil revenues and saved too little. Creepy guys like Craig Richards and Jason Brunie are tasked with protecting the Permanent Fund. Randy Ruraro is running the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authoity.
What could possibly go wrong allowing the inmates to operate the asylum?
Onward through the fog ………….
Joe your right about ” Creepy guys like Craig Richards and Jason Brune are tasked with protecting the Permanent Fund. ” Yes the ones to which, I last week put on notice, that no longer can they defy the very rules in their Corporate By-Laws at ART. II Section 11 Bonding.
See my testimony at witness here :
‘https://apfc.org/board-of-trustees/board-of-trustees-meetings/
Public Comment is at the very end of the video , notice the silence before my demand for a response…. and the glance to “the powers to be ” the attorneys on deck, it was golden! Written response was promised posthaste…Ha Liberty Ed
Joe, You’re beating a Dead Hirse…
I agree with you on the whole, I only wish however that we had invested in a thing called “infrastructure”, you know, roads and bridges to places that hold vast treasures and from which the extraction of same could create wealth for Alaskan Residents via and thing called a JOB!
Hang Tough ol’buddy and be thankful that we’ve less years than most to suffer the consequences of the policy actions you list above!
“…….I only wish however that we had invested in a thing called “infrastructure”……..”
Hear, Hear!!! Instead, we handed out billions and billions to be spent on winter vacations, dope and alcohol, and cheap Chinese junk. There is a price to be paid for corruption at this level, and it will be paid.
Not sure where you get the idea Juneau won’t let go of the capital. Many of us would be happy to see it go. It’s more headache than value.
It’s the Legislature which won’t let go of Juneau.
I’m also not sure where you came up with we are “Seattle focused”. We tend to go there instead of Anchorage because it’s cheaper than Anchorage.
That’s not Seattle focused, it’s common economic sense.
This column is a bit heavy on personal speculation and not reality. At least where SE is concerned.
Juneau is no more “Seattle focused” than Anchorage, or the entire state for that matter.
erak, I completely agree! I’ve been saying this for years!!! Put the capital closer to We the People🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Then elect better legislators who will actually move it this time.
We’re not holding it hostage.
Oh, and by the way. We don’t want to be part of Washington and we are not holding the Capital history.
Maybe, just maybe, you should fix your own issues first before blaming the evil 3% of the population which routinely get ignored by mainland.
we are not holding the capital hostage. stupid autocorrect.
Capitol. Stupid auto-correct….
Old man yells at cloud
Bob, like many mainland Alaskans suffers from JDS (Juneau Derangement Syndrome). It’s a cousin to TDS, which also affects far too many Alaskan mainlanders.
JDS most prominent manifestation is the rabid irrational blaming of Juneau for the legislative dysfunction in Alaska.
It’s easier than admitting the rest of Alaska, especially the Anchorage Muni, elected crappy representatives. Blame little Juneau for their bad decisions and overall political laziness.
Bob, you’re not ready for prime time anymore. Consider retirement with Grandpa Bloodstains. You can drink soup together and yell at passersby.
This article threatens the status quo. I appreciate the thoughtful responses, the insulting ones are a reflection of the unwillingness to engage in a CONVERSATION, instead of bandying about clever-sounding insults.
Alaska is TOO BIG to be one state. SE should go its own way or amalgamate with Washington. Maybe you don’t like Washington, but sheer economics and convenience dictate where your interests lie. That is a simple fact. You don’t go to Anchorage to shop, connect flights to the rest of the country, or watch professional sports.
And unless and until you join in the conversation to kick out unconstitutional federal control of the state’s resources, and end the love affair with the Green Climate Cult which pervades the majority in SE, you will never be able to 1) make a meaningful contribution to the rest of the state’s economy, or 2) be able to pay for creating your own state.
SE should think about how the rest of us perceive THEM, not vice-versa. The fact that this article produced rancor is indicative that a good solution would be to discuss it openly, rather than stew in our own respective juices. We have the constitutional tools at hand.
One observation is correct: it is the legislature that refuses to obey the still-in-effect 1974 initiative to move the capital. But every one of the legislators imagines themselves as a future governor, and they KNOW that if they introduce a bill to implement a move, they will be forever poisoned by the votes in SE.
It’s a fact, Jack.
Bob, I appreciate your bringing these issues forward. There was a time when I thought Alaska should opt for independence. Alaska isn’t too large, in fact, as geographically structured, it is ideally positioned on the Pacific sea lanes and has the resources and international demand for them, that we could be the most prosperous state, on a per capita basis. What we lack is a cohesive and educated population motivated to innovate with a strong work ethic, along with the backbone to resist and throw off federal constraints. The pathetically shallow, corrupt and incompetent legislators from across the state who meet in Juneau illustrate the dysfunctional condition of our entire collective population. We don’t have a functioning public education system and the UA system is worthless. The population and state government meekly Iaccept federal control of our lands and resources which insures dependency and impoverishment. Anchorage resembles the decayed cesspool of Seattle as much as Juneau resembles the insufferable white liberal suburbs of Seattle. Fairbanks rapidly is following them down the drain. Look at Nome, it’s become indistinguishable from a Seattle suburb. We watch as Native relatives largely transform into essentially white yuppies, indistinguishable from outside liberals and accepting Park Service control of our lands. The level of corruption, greed, incompetence and jealousy within the Native Corps and made up “tribes” and “governments” is off the charts. Teller and Deering were created for mining, Brevig Mission people all worked, (key word worked, past tense), at Lost River and Nome was built on the lands adjacent to Nome River that the King Islanders used to survive during summer months. Point being that there is no longer a viable mainland statewide population base sufficiently large enough which is not dumbed down and dependent on government programs to manage a state effectively with Alaska’s potential. Moving the capital will not solve the problem.
We are 3% of the population. 3%, maybe less. Juneau itself send a whole 3 people to the legislature.
It’s time you put on your big boy pants and accept reality. It’s the votes of the mainland legislators who keep the capital here.
Find a mirror, look in it, you’ll see the real problem.
Oh, we have a really good idea how mainland feels about anything not on the railroad. And guess what? We don’t really care. We’re used to being the bastard stepchildren of Alaska.
We’ve had the state ignore us since before statehood. We expect it. Considering how you handle your affairs, we’re actually kinds grateful.
It’s kinda hard for us to “join the conversation” when the railroad legislators are uninterested in listening.
But boy the mainland legislators sure love to grab at the tax revenue tourism brings.
And just for giggles, why should we do anything just to make Anchorage voters happy? We’ve seen what you do to yourselves.
There is an irony here, Bob. In an attempt to demonize us for the mainland’s failure to elect competent people, you use the same “intellectual” (being generous) arguments often used against Israel.
It’s SEs fault. Everything is. If only we didn’t exist everything would be better. SE has a cabal of people meeting in a quiet place plotting the future of Alaska.
Consider, if you mentally can, the reason your article got do much pushback from both sides here is actually simple. It’s a stupid take written by a petulant man child who is desperate to blame a small minority of people for the majority’s failings.
Congratulations. You’ve made some of our most obvious liberal trolls look more intelligent and thoughtful than yourself.
Since you want to quote Stripes (even if you don’t realize you did), I’ll return the favor:
lighten up, Francis.
And try to grow up if you can. You’re not fit for intellectual prime time.
Sounds like the Masked Avenger has proven the point: SE doesn’t like the Railbelt, and the Railbelt doesn’t like SE. Why bicker when the Constitution gives us the ability to part amicably, instead of pretending that we are ONE STATE/ONE PEOPLE?
I can only speculate, Birdie, as to why the Alaskan Independence Party really “stripped” you of your chairmanship: too little “cohesion,” I suspect. Whatever, keep blasting the universe with your radio waves from the outskirts of Soldotna. In few more years you might become as great a host as William Buckley; then you’ll have something to smile about and poke your nose into the air!
Mr. Bird, Someone above said that you taught 11th grade students, I believe that comment was in error since you have a decidedly Sophomoric bent to your thinking. Allow me to explain further…
In it’s purest sense Economic Productivity is measured by production of something that the world markets desire and beat a path to your door to obtain. There are only two economies it has been said, Agriculture and Mining, everything else is a service to these two. Southeast Alaska for which you have such ignorant disdain, does very well in both categories. For example a tiny little mine hidden away in the Peoples Republic of Juneau is the #1 producer of Silver in the United States, weird isn’t it Bob? Especially so in Juxtaposition to the Municipality of Anchorage, the biggest concentration of population along your “Road System of Alaska” which produces exactly what? (Crime, Corruption and Commie Assemblymen?
Regarding taking the Capitol away from Juneau, I’m all for it! Do that city and region a favor by banishing the disease of Government from it’s midst, just don’t place it in that Commie Capitol of the State, Skankorage. As a historian you should recall what Madison recorded in his copious notes during the Constitutional Debates about placement of the seat of Government and the importance of it being in a most disagreeable location so that nobody would want to be there for long… Surely as a Historian you will recall that Bob Atwood wanted it placed in Gakona, (my recommendation would be Tok, a lovely spot in January).
Mostly what I wish to convey to you is this, I am blessed that my family has lived in Alaska within three centuries, I was born in the Territory, built the Pipeline and have lived and worked throughout OUR Great State my whole and happy life. I’ve lived in South East, Coastal, Y-K-Delta, Northwest Arctic, Interior and yes your beloved, Provincial, wholly dependent upon Uncle Sam’s Honey “Road System Alaska”,( I was in Prudhoe 50 years ago for crying out loud!). One thing I’ve learned within the eight decades that God has granted me in Alaska is that we are one people. From Ketchikan to Kotzebue the Women pick Blueberries and the Men catch Salmon, all wearing Xta-Tuff Boots. The similarities between each region run deeper than the Provincial Prejudices that some are unfortunately afflicted with. Let us coalesce around our common values and be united in our quest for autonomy and freedoms that regrettably still need to be won from an overbearing Foedral Landlord. ( Thought you would like the Foedral bit Bob) .
Stop with the balkanization of Alaska crap already and lets get this State moving in the right direction, not further backwards.
P.S. If you want to contact me in regards, Ed Martin has my E-Mail and cell number.
“……..Alaska is TOO BIG to be one state………”
Rubbish. If we can be a nation in your independence ideology, we can be a state, even with the same problems that all other western states are experiencing with the feds and environmental extremists. The problem isn’t our wonderful geography. It’s our incredibly crappy attitudes and hare-brained schemes. Contributing to the emotions fueling civil war talk goes beyond stupid; it embraces evil. Please stop before it’s too late.
Here you go Bob ie. “The Beatings will continue until the morale improves “! ‘https://federalnewsnetwork.com/causey/2012/09/the-beatings-will-continue-until-morale-improves/
A good read with wisdom ……
Do you want the answer? or not? The dilemma is solved by the the people formally assembling. We have this audit of agencies relative to This 1776 Constitution for express constitutional authorities. The boundaries bequeathed by agencies to themselves are ripe for pruning. The Alaska Railroad Transfer Act needs review relative to the Statehood Act. If recent proceedings are continued as judicial orders the state of Alaska has been trisected without congressional approvals and senatorial representation required by foundation mandates. District of Columbia has become evidently a foreign citadel instead of a capitol. Unalaska was not compensated when when other areas became designated seats of Alaskan government and they aren’t whining.
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