By FRITZ PETTYJOHN
I don’t tweet. I’d wager few Must Read Alaska readers do. Twitter is for the politically correct, and if you stray off the leftist reservation, you’re censored.
I’d like to tweet. I have the occasional random thought that I’d like to share. Such as:
I have very serious doubt that Donald Trump runs again for president. He’ll turn 76 next month. He’d be 82 at the end of another term. That’s too old. And no one, not even Trump, can run for office without the support of their spouse. Melania’s first priority is her son Barron, who just turned 16. Does she want him back in the fishbowl of the White House as he makes the transition to adulthood?
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has three little kids, the youngest only two years old. His wife is recovering from breast cancer. He’s only 43. Is this his time, or should he put off a Presidential run? He seems like a guy who would put his family first.
Trump is getting a lot of attention with his primary endorsements. But when the primaries are over his endorsement doesn’t help any more. As Glenn Youngkin demonstrated in Virginia, Republican candidates in a general election need to distance themselves from Trump. The people who will be talking about Trump will be the Democrats, trying to fire up their base.
The Democrats are in serious trouble in 2024. They don’t have a candidate, and they don’t have a message. Actually, they had awful candidates, with no message, in 2016 and 2020. They only lost by a whisker in 2016, and squeaked through in 2020, because half the country can’t stand Donald Trump. Their only hope in 2024 is Trump as their opponent. Personally, I think Republicans will realize this, and nominate a mainstream conservative like Mike Pence.
This is a Republican year. It’s not a good time to run if you’re a Democrat. especially in Alaska. So I think Republicans will control both houses of the Legislature next year. One thing they’ll want to do is repeal the part of Prop 2 that abolished political primaries. They could also repeal ranked choice voting, but should they?
I’d counsel against it. Alaska is a red state, and Republicans have a natural advantage. Actually, I’ve been in favor of ranked choice voting since 1982, when I first ran for the State Senate. That’s when Democrat Bill Sheffield was elected Governor with 46% of the vote. Conservatives were divided between Republican Tom Fink and Libertarian Dick Randolph. With ranked choice voting, almost all of Randolph’s votes would have gone to Fink, who could have won.
In the last 40 years I’ve seen the same thing happen time after time in Alaska elections. So I’d say keep ranked choice voting. It keeps political minorities, like Alaska Democrats, from winning elections.
So those are my tweets. If Elon Musk wins control of Twitter I’ll start tweeting for real, and I hope many of you do as well. It would be a convenient forum.
Fritz Pettyjohn served in the Alaska legislature in the 1980’s, and has practiced law in Alaska since 1974, and has written a column of one kind or another since high school, taking his inspiration from Herb Cain.
I don’t tweet. I’m not a bird, and I don’t like socially open fights. It’s unhealthy. Dangerous.
I don’t roll with you, Fritz. You probably look at another’s age and well-being from a reference point of your own age. I don’t know how old you are, but I’ll guess late 70’s? Rather than examine Trump’s age upon exit of another term, consider instead his age at the entrance of another term …….78. Some people at 78 are very healthy and have an abundance of energy. Trump doesn’t drink or smoke. At 76, he can stand before audiences in packed football stadiums for two hours. He’s a man with a very strong constitution and drive. For contrast, look at Joe Biden. At 78 he looks weak and frail and nearly disabled by dementia. He is a clear and present danger to our country.
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I predict Donald Trump will run again. He won’t disclose his intentions at this time, which is pragmatic considering all of the attention it would warrant from his enemies.
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The Democrats have very little capital from which to choose. Maybe Hillary Clinton will re-emerge? She’ll be 75. She still has loads of energy. A rematch of the 2016 election? That’s my prediction.
Energy? Hillary Clinton? Perhaps you did see her stumbling around on the campaign trail in 2016. Like when she passed out and had to be carried and thrown into the van at the 911 ceremony in New York? That Hillary.
JMark:
We’ll, she does have plenty of negative energy!
@jmark,
She’s the best Democrats have. In fact, she’s ALL that the Democrats have, after Idiot Joe.
Hi Fritz,
Alaska has never been a “Red State”, perhaps, a Red Colony, but never a Red State. If it were we’d have a small state government, a bursting at the seams natural resource development history and future, and a free supply chain with no federal control (Jones Act amongst other controls).
Alaska is a colony, This status has been perpetuated by every member of our congressional representation since statehood. Name one thing that benefited our state and gave us sovereignty comparable to other states? Our only options have been to continue as a colony or territory. Statehood has been a sham. Our economic past and future has never been controlled by our state government, indeed corporate and federal interests sometimes give us permission to peel an orange or slice an onion in an incredibly over stocked kitchen. Simply put we have little say in our future without Congress’ permission to develop our abundant natural resources as they continue to manufacture bigger and more intrusive government power and control.
Your post is a spot on observation. The entire purpose of the national park and preserve expansion is too reserve the vast mineral resources for outside interests’ benefit to be exploited at the time of their choosing. We have a massive in relation to our population size state government that serves as an adjunct to the overall federal control. Failing and dysfunctional education system. With the billions wasted on “governance” we still don’t have a coherent road system for the abilty to economically move resources and people throughout the state.
Alaska is not a red state. Stop being delusional.
MA:
Not much anymore. It used to be. But after all the pipeline royalty money moved into state government coffers, Democrats and Socialists invaded our state like locust. Government jobs. Plenty of them. And that stuff actually started with a RINO Republican named Jay Hammond.
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Today, Alaska is purple. If Bill Walker gets elected, it WILL become blue.
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If Lisa gets another term, it WILL become blue.
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If Al Gross gets elected, along with Murkowski and Walker, it WILL become midnight blue.
You don’t have to tweet; there is a better way. ‘HTTPS://jointhefedi.com
That’s what Wally Hickel used to say. “There is a better way!”
Fritz,
Mike pence really?
He asked his lawyers what to do about counting of the electors .
He didn’t stand up for America when it was all on the line . Hes not his own man .
Are you trying to undermine Trumps support? Plant doubt ?
Im curious- tell us your life story. Have you fought like trump to get where he is ? Won lost won lost again and again and lost it all only to build back up and risk it all ? He’s hardened by fire .
Fritz do you even understand the depth of that concept? To hold on until there is nothing in you except the will that says hold on .
Do you understand the value of what he’s trying to accomplish? Freedom and justice for all .
He wants liberty . Something worth gambling it all.
Yes Trump may pass . Things happen. Thankfully Ron Des-antis understands whats at stake he would do an honorable job as well. We have many great republican options. A rare few democrats.
That woman from Hawaii is honorable clear minded and strong. She understands the value of life and liberty.
As to your Rank choice voting. I hope you are right. Statistically I think you are correct it should help especially now that more people are aware that character matters. That we cant afford weak unprincipled candidates . So we are about to find out . Theoretically ranked choice voting should help separate some of the chaff and demagogs. It should allow thinkers in . It gives us a deeper pool to field a top candidate instead of just two choices. As in a competition of two fakes telling us what we want to hear . Who behind closed doors can grovel the best and become the most indebted to outside entities or monied interests.
Now possibly we will get the big school effect. Odds are there will be more and better options at a large school. ( larger pool)
Our goal should be to try and wake up the Democrats to the fact they have been brainwashed by party politics.( they show major signs of hypnosis) Party loyalty over the needs of the nation. Or Their fellow neighbors.
Lets hope the democrats vote for the best candidate instead of the party man .
Thankfully ranked choice voting is designed to moderate the hypnosis of party loyalty. Get people to vote for ideas instead of party .
Thats my Tweet.
Jesus people…
Mike Pence did exactly what he was allowed to do by the Constitution. He did not not have the power to halt, alter, or overrule the electoral college.
He followed the law. That’s a good thing.
Do you really want Kamala to have the power to override the 2024 results?
This is what happens when people stop taking civics in school.
It’s a sad day when the most vociferous constitutional supporters are those who have clearly never read the constitution.
Masked
Its a combination of things that give pence the power to actively count or choose which electors to accept.
He’s invoked or empowered in amendment 12 th and to some degree electoral count act of 1887 which is superceded by the 12th.
There was widespread suspicion of election fraud during last election. That put the onus on pence and congress to sort out the mess .
A large group of senators led by cruz a highly legal educated mind was expected to vote to question certain states electors . This made the expectation that pence use technical counting efforts he was technically empowered to do to help stifle fraud and confusion perhaps throwing the decision regarding president back to the house.
A fairly educated lawyer gomert backed this line of thought with a lawsuit that was thrown out for lack of standing because it couldn’t easily be proven that fraud was at hand or anyone was yet injured.
So gomert , cruz , hawley and a large section of legal American minds argue pence had power on this subject.
It’s extremely foolish to say they didn’t take civics or to say that about anyone who expected more of pence . I doubt you have had their legal education.
Are they right? Hard to say for sure as the Supreme Court didn’t take up the question but legal and election precedent says they most likely were .
Look up the 1960 election and 1880 election for a few parallels.
When the election is in doubt and fraud is potentially in play it’s expected that the vise pres as head of senate steps in and the house comes into play .
So yes it’s pretty obvious pence didn’t do his job .
Perhaps you could say the senate if you want.
It was pences and senates job to count and certify .
Pence was the head. Who’s expected to count. In the 1700s- 1800s would a farmer count moldy grain as salable inventories?
Would a rancher count dead cows when heading to market?
Counting is a process of action,discovery and analysis. Especially when our constitution was being created.
Its not technically just ceremonial once electoral questions and fraud come into play .
The only thing that “trumps” compound ignorance is simple stupidity! Don’t Trump yourself!
Republicans running in the general election need to distance themselves from Trump? What planet are you on? Maybe the RHINOS like Murkowski should distance themselves from Trump’s wrath but all others will ride his coat tails to victory. The Dems are in the toilet right now because all of their crimes against Trump & the nation are starting to bubble up to the surface for voters to see. IF we have a fair & honest election the Democrats will be toast.
With ranked choice we will end up with four Republicans on the ballot for the Senate, including Lisa. Our vote will be split four ways, and the liberals will vote for Lisa. As was planned some time ago.
Of course Desantis will run, why would he care about his kids?
If he won, Trump would immediately be a one-term lame duck president. Look how long it took for him to even begin to get his agenda rolling the last time. I prefer a candidate who would have the full 8 years to clean house and reverse the wreckage done to this country by Obama & Biden.
Mike Pence? Seriously?
A note: I believe the reference should be to Herb Caen, the late columnist from San Francisco. A further note to young people: California at one time was a dynamic and diverse state that was fun to live in – instead of the dysfunctional, leftist cesspool it is today.
Fritz is just the type of Republican that Twitter wants on their site.
Pettyjohn, you might have heard as much from any high society inebriate. We know that politicians become intoxicated whenever they get a whiff of themselves and they enjoy nothing more than being stroked. They talk incessantly about public service and how they feel obligated to “give back” to society, but it’s the taking they have in mind. If you can add to this, I’m all ears.
We have seen the true colors of all of our elected officials. It isn’t pretty what they have done to we the people. We the people need to kick these corrupt politicians to the curb. All Americans and Alaskans deserve to have an electoral process that they can trust. Has Alaska cleaned up the voter registration database since Judicial Watch pointed out we have too many registered voters? Has Alaska ensured that the voter registration database is secure from data breaches like what happened during 2020? Maybe a forensic audit should have been completed for the Nov. 2020 election. Did ranked choice proposition get legally voted in. Does everyone realize ranked choice voting is more expensive to manage? From Heritage Foundation: “You will not believe what “reformers” have devised to tinker with and manipulate our elections. It is called ranked choice voting (or “instant runoff voting”)—but it is really a scheme to disconnect elections from issues and allow candidates with marginal support from voters to win elections.
Here is how it works. In 2008, instead of choosing to cast your ballot for John McCain, Barack Obama, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, or Cynthia McKinney, all of whom were running for president, you would vote for all of them and rank your choice. In other words, you would list all five candidates on your ballot from one to five, with one being your first choice for president and five being your last choice.
If none of the candidates were chosen as the number one pick by a majority of voters in Round One, then the presidential candidate with the lowest number of votes would be eliminated from the ballot. People who selected that candidate as their top pick—let us say it was McKinney—would automatically have their votes changed to their second choice. Then the scores would be recalculated, over and over again, until one of the candidates finally won a majority as the second, third, or even fourth choice of voters.”
Round and round it goes until those counting the ballots determine the winner. The observation that four republicans will end up on the final ballot and Lisa will win by default is why ranked choice voting should be deemed unconstitutional. Ranked choice voting is intentionally rigged especially when you have corrupt voting machines!! Alaska needs one vote per person with ID on paper ballots! We can count them manually. How many voters are in Alaska? Middle school kids could count ballots better than rigged voting machines!
Fritz, no disrespect intended, but you are incredibly out of touch.
Every lie will be revealed! There are so many lies, so much gaslighting, mockingbird media and those like Fritz who continue to spin the narrative. Everyone should be asking themselves does any of this make sense from a reasonable person standard? Literally, allowing the ballot counters to determine a winner by multiple rounds of reallocating ranked choice votes with very little audit capability using rigged voting machines. Does anyone recall reading what Joseph Stalin said many many years ago (dictator of Russia) “It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything. Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.”
This was followed up more recently by Biden with a shocking statement that could easily be attributed to a third-world dictator. When asked about election legislation earlier in January, the president of the United States of America stated, “It’s no longer about who gets to vote; it’s about making it harder to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all.”
Quoting Nancy Pelosi from 2017, an alleged conspiracy by Democrats to derail candidates by smearing their reputation. The day Kavanaugh was confirmed, a video clip began making the rounds in which House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) could allegedly be heard revealing the Democratic Party’s template for such attacks, a tactic she called the “wrap-up smear.”
We the People must use discernment and carefully validate and research every candidates and carefully form our own opinion of their character. Do any of the candidates belong to secret organizations? Are any of the candidates funded by outside sources that don’t necessarily have the best interest of Alaskans at heart? We must be able to validate a certain candidate is actually a full time Alaskan resident and not a California resident. Was a certain candidate friends with Madam Maxwell and other seedy socialites? Keep in mind equity is not equality. Gaslighting and fear porn are NOT facts. Let’s independently verify and stick to the facts and STOP the spinning.
Everyone must ask, why don’t We the People have all of our 1st amendment rights fully restored? What are “they” afraid of? Makes me wonder if “they” are afraid of the truth…everyone must be a truth seeker!
As of this writing, I’m 17 years older than the country’s median age. At the same time, I’m a generation or two younger than quite a number of political figures still hanging on to their elected office or other position of power. Sometimes, people need to realize when it’s time to step down and make way for younger generations. Isn’t that what many people have said in hindsight about Don Young over the past month? In recent years, I’ve observed a lack of leadership depth coincidental with the older generations’ continued grasp of power, culminating in two successive presidential election cycles dominated mostly by senior citizens (Biden, Clinton, Sanders, Trump). Do we have the president we deserve because we kept defaulting to his ilk year after year, in the process denying younger generations their chance to lead?
Responding to American’s comment about Fritz’s background, to the best of my knowledge, he’s a Republican from Berkeley, California. That by itself tells me he’s endured quite a few trials by fire in his life.
Sean
Fritz may be a tough great man . I wasn’t trying to put him down. I was trying to put his understanding of Trumps mettle in perspective.
Fritz has spent most of his life in government or receiving government pay checks. ( politics) military reservs are still government checks . Unless he was deployed in war time and was in firefights Thats not comparable to the hardening Trump received as a private sector buisness man in newyork where his actions were sink or swim and repeatedly sink only to fight back and have another go . Private sector just cant be compared to a gaurenteed government check. Now perhaps fritz can give us some perspective on his fire hardening that makes him think trump will give up. ( let fritz speak for himself l)
Trump is not palin by any stretch. He a true fighter.
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