Five Republican senators broke with the Republicans and voted to proceed with impeachment case against former President Donald Trump.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania all voted to move ahead. None of their votes comes as a surprise, as all of them have indicated their displeasure with the former president.
In a vote of 55-45, the impeachment trial will now proceed, but it also appears that there may not be enough votes to convict the former president for inciting a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the day the Electoral College vote was certified by the Congress.
Sen. Dan Sullivan voted with the Republican majority to block the trial. The Senate is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.
67 votes are needed to convict the president of the charges, so there are some strong signs that the trial effort will fail.
“My review of it has led me to conclude it is constitutional in recognizing impeachment is not solely about removing a president, it is also a matter of political consequence,” Murkowski told reporters.
This is the second impeachment of Trump in about year. The first was was when he was impeached by the House of Representatives during the 116th United States Congress on Dec. 18, 2019. The Senate trial was Jan. 16 – Feb. 5, 2020.
The Anchorage mask mandate, now an emergency order by the acting mayor, will be considered by the Anchorage Assembly as an official law — beyond just an emergency order.
The proposed ordinance and three others will be introduced at Tuesday night’s Anchorage Assembly meeting.
In addition to making masks mandatory by ordinance, the Assembly is being asked to consider revoking its plastic bag ban, and putting curbside pickup for alcohol and marijuana into ordinance.
In 2019, the Assembly made single-use plastic bags illegal in retail stores. Now, they would be legal again, per the ordinance change.
The face mask ordinance could relieve the political pressure on Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, but also make it more of an issue in the upcoming mayoral race.
One of the leading candidates for mayor, Democrat Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar, is on record supporting the mask mandate, while at least one other, Republican candidate Dave Bronson, not currently holding elected office, is in favor of personal choice and responsibility. Surely the proposed ordinances will become a debate point between the candidates.
If a candidate is elected as mayor who does not support the mask mandate, his or her hands will be tied by the ordinance, as the only way the mandate could then be lifted would by via a change voted on by the Assembly.
Assembly members John Weddleton, Meg Zaletel and Suzanne LaFrance are introducing the ordinances, which won’t be voted on during Tuesday’s meeting. Ordinances require public comment periods, which require legal notices.
Facebook abruptly seized Anchorage Assemblywoman’s Jamie Allard’s official Facebook page — the one she uses for her Assembly role.
With no explanation, Allard saw her page cancelled after she raised concerns about the cancel culture, and license plates that had drawn complaints.
Also, the governor has removed Allard from the Human Rights Commission, with no explanation, but clearly because of the things she wrote on Facebook about the license plates.
Allard said her only concern was that many words — REICH or FUHRER to begin with — could be banned for any reason, that these are people’s last names, and that this is a slippery slope for any government to take.
The two attorneys who brought the license plates into the public discussion are lawyers for the Recall Dunleavy Committee. The photographs of the plates appear to be old, certainly there was no snow evident that would indicate they are recent photos. An investigation into the plates revealed they had already been revoked by the state.
Allard had made note that “Fuhrer” is a German word for “Leader.” Allard, who is Hispanic, had no intention of defending Nazis, she said. She was discussing cancel culture’s knee-jerk reactions.
“I told people that this was going to happen to me; I knew I would be deplatformed,” she said.
Allard is on MeWe and Gab, two other social media platforms that honor free speech and own their own server, through DuckDuckGo. Google blocks access to Gab.
(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said her personal Facebook page had also been removed. That is not the case. We regret the error.)
A cardboard cutout greets customers at the Matanuska Brew Pub in downtown Anchorage, with the face of Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar and a reminder that the 5 percent tax on the beer customers are about to consume is thanks to the man now running for mayor. Evidently the cardboard cutout is set to appear in other locations this week.
That may not be entirely fair. Dunbar introduced the beverage tax, got the Assembly to approve it for the ballot, but Anchorage voters approved it in April of 2020, through Proposition 13, authorizing a 5% sales tax on the retail.
The revenue is to pay for police, first responders, and criminal justice personnel, addressing child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence, and programs related to substance misuse treatment and prevention, mental and behavioral health, and homelessness. The proposition passed 51-49.
Just one year earlier, a similar measure had failed with voters. Proposition 9 would have levied a 5 percent tax on alcoholic beverage retail sales. It would have dedicated the tax revenue to substance misuse prevention and treatment, behavioral health, homelessness services, and vagrant campsite removal.
The difference between the two measures was small, but the marketing effort to get Prop. 13 passed was based on extensive voter research by proponents of the tax, to dial in the message for Anchorage likely voters.
Assembly Chair Felix Rivera will have to stand for recall. Judge Dani Crosby gave the order today, after Rivera and his surrogates unsuccessfully tried to fight his recall in court.
The judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion to decertify the petition. It will go in front of the voters in March unless there is a Supreme Court appeal.
Ballot will be mailed to voters about March 16 and are due back April 6, when the mail-in-only municipal election ends. Also on the ballot will be several candidates for mayor and school board seats, as well as bond issues.
Rivera’s recall will appear on the ballots of those living in his district, Anchorage Assembly District 4, Seat G, which is seen on this map:
A group of Anchorage residents loosely associated with the Facebook Groups Save Anchorage and Reclaim Midtown worked for weeks to get the required number of signatures to take Rivera back to voters. He was reelected to his seat just last April.
After the signatures were certified by the Municipal Clerk, Rivera and his surrogates filed a lawsuit, saying the signatures should not have been certified.
In her order, Crosby said it is up to the voters to decide if Rivera failed to perform his prescribed duties, and if so, whether that merits his recall from elected office.
The allegation stems from an order by former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, who in EO-15 prohibited political gatherings of more that 15 people.
On Aug. 11, 2020, a meeting of the Anchorage Assembly took place, during which it was pointed out by Assemblywoman Jamie Allard that there were 17 people in the room, which was at that point closed off from public participation.
“After thanking [Ms.] Allard for her comment Rivera looked around the room and the Regular Meeting proceeded.” Allowing the Assembly to break the emergency order was the misconduct that led to the recall
Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka has released the following statement:
“Over the weekend, we were made aware several Alaskans were concerned about messages conveyed on Alaska personalized vehicle registration plates. The plates in question had previously been recalled by the DMV, and the DMV issued replacement standard plates to be displayed. We are notifying law enforcement that these plates are unauthorized by the DMV.”
She is referring to at least two license plates that were noted on social media by Recall Dunleavy Committee attorneys — one plate says “FUHRER” and the other “3REICH.” These plates may refer to Nazi beliefs.
“The Alaska DMV has strict guidelines and protocols for issuing personalized license plates, which prohibit references to violence, drugs, law enforcement, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and other government entities. The DMV has a recall process in place should a plate be issued that later is determined to be inappropriate or offensive, which was used in this circumstance,” Tshibaka said.
“I am ordering a review of DMV guidelines and processes to determine how these plates were issued and to ensure that Alaska’s personalized plate program continues to protect the public’s interest – both in terms of preventing inappropriate messages, and also the state’s obligation to protect Alaskans’ constitutional rights to free speech,” Tshibaka said.
Any Alaskan who wishes to provide input on these processes is encouraged to do so by e-mailing the Department of Administration at [email protected].
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” – Voltaire
The French writer and devoted defender of free speech had not heard about “3REICH” and “FUHRER” vehicle license plates in Alaska. He would not recognize the Democrats of 2021 as a party that once, if only for a few short years, championed constitutional rights.
Over the weekend, Democrat activists in the state accused this writer of being a Nazi, a Nazi sympathizer, and a fascist. This is their playbook — Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, in the Saul Alinsky tactics they use. MRAK is that target.
Until you’re called a Nazi, you really haven’t lived on the wild side. After all, that is about the lowest form of life, down with rapists, and murderers. In some circles, it is the fashionable way to dehumanize people who have a different viewpoint in life. “They’re Nazis” is all the rage now, on the Left.
In fact, the Left has now reached “Godwin’s Law,” or the Godwin rule of Nazi analogies. It goes like this: the longer an online discussion goes, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.” And that is exactly where Democrats have found themselves on Twitter — they can be counted on to spew the “N” word on any given day. The word just slips out automatically.
This writer has no specific position on the 3REICH license plate that two Alaska attorneys are complaining about on Twitter and that Rep. Sara Hannan is asking the Division of Motor Vehicles to revoke. Perhaps a 4REICH would be more concerning to this writer — after all the Third Reich is so far in the past that hardly anyone living remembers the actual Nazi Regime; they just remember the stories and the lessons. One commenter says he knows the family who owns the plate, and they are not Nazis or Nazi sympathizers. But who knows?
As for “Fuhrer,” there is a former well-known National Education Association president from Alaska named Ron Fuhrer who might object to being called a Nazi, just because he inherited a German name from his father.
None of that can soothe the rage of the extremists and hate-mongers of the Left, including the MidnightSunAK blog, which has decided to try to deplatform Must Read Alaska.
Having a reasonable dialogue about why that license plate was ever issued doesn’t fit the narrative of the Left. The destruction of conservatives, however, is blood sport.
It’s sad that the Democratic Party and its surrogates have now become the party of hate speech (calling someone a Nazi is hate speech) and anti-free speech.
Their drift toward totalitarianism since those heady days of the 1960s is stunning.
For this writer, I won’t die on a hill for Nazis or race-baiters. Racial superiority is not a concept to defend. I won’t debate hateful people on social media, either.
I will, however, die on the hill for the First Amendment, and the right of people everywhere to express themselves without the government curbing their rights of free speech. (Unless, of course, government is paying for the University of Alaska artwork depicting the decapitated head of President Trump. That, I’ll continue to argue, is a misappropriation of public funds. And no yelling fire in a theater, please.)
In the case of license plates, who can say what the panel from the Division of Motor Vehicles will do with “3REICH” or ‘FUHRER.” They will have to discuss them, now that a legislator has made a request that the plates be revoked. And because of the viciousness from the Left, it’s doubtful the panel will be able to take the pressure of being called Nazi sympathizers.
How would you judge these plates if you were on the the panel?
What if you discovered that the first was on an auto owned by the son of President Clinton’s Labor Secretary Robert Reich? That would be a Robert Reich III, since Robert Reich is the son of Robert Reich, a Jewish immigrant. Would that color your perception?
What if the other was owned by Filthy Fuhrer, the Alaska man (and convicted killer) who got a judge (an African American judge, at that) to allow him to legally change his name from Timothy Lobdell in 2017?
If someone’s name is Adolf, would that be allowed on his license plate? How about the alternate spelling, Adolph?
A story in Vice magazine describes a documentary, “Meet the Hitlers,” about the unusual and diverse people with a very distinctive and unfortunate last name, and how some of them changed their names, while others did not.
Could the “H” name go on a license plate in this day and age of political correctness or would it be subject to savage social media attacks?
How about Pol Pot, of the Khmer Rouge, who was responsible for the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians, who perished from starvation, execution, disease or overwork under that regime?
Or Mao Zedong, the Chinese leader responsible for the deaths of as many as 70 million Chinese, as a name on a license plate? Can Mao go on a plate? Fidel? Che?
These questions are not meant to provoke rage from the Left, (although they will) but thoughtfulness from all who truly are interested in dialogue.
But beware, that is not where hard-left political operators are coming from these days.
Taking their cues from Antifa, and led in Alaska by the most hardened, cynical, and calloused lawyer of them all, Scott Kendall, (Recall Dunleavy and Alaskans for Better Elections) they are going full scorched earth. They’re coming for Must Read Alaska today, but keep in mind, conservatives, they’ll come for you tomorrow — to deplatform you, strip you from your revenues, cancel you from your job, and as Juneau’s Chris Dimond has stated, run you out of the state altogether.
The straightforward story that offended Scott Kendall’s & Co:
Airmen and soldiers in the Alaska National Guard are on their way home over the next few days after assisting the District of Columbia National Guard and federal and civilian authorities with the 59th Presidential Inauguration last week.
About 70 Alaska National Guard Airmen and soldiers joined nearly 26,000 Guard members from every state, territory, and the District of Columbia to assist with the historic event, according to the Alaska National Guard, which released a statement, allaying concerns about how guardsmen were treated in D.C.
Alaska’s airmen and soldiers were not part of the group that was banished to sleep in a cold parking garage by the House and Senate Democrat leadership of Congress, which led to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Greg Abbott calling their troops back to their states.
All Alaska Guard members were assigned individual lodging in hotels, according to the Alaska National Guard press release. They were in the garages only for short periods of time, and the conditions were tolerable, according to one of them quoted by the Guard’s press office.
“During our duty periods, we have opportunities to take breaks while others swap out with us,” said Capt. Jennifer Ward, the medical readiness officer for the 176th Wing, Alaska Air National Guard. “The day before the inauguration, we were staged in a heated parking garage for about five hours, which was great because it was only 38-degrees outside.”
“It was clean, had porta potties, and we were able to rest and relax before going back out,” she said. “It’s important to take breaks in areas that are in close proximity to the zone we’ve been assigned so that we can respond quickly if needed, but so far that hasn’t been necessary.”
Alaska’s airmen and soldiers assisted with security, logistics, and transportation operations around the Capitol, National Mall, and White House. They conducted up to 24-hour operations and implemented rest-work cycles in staging areas for safety reasons.
Alaska guardsmen also staged at FedExField, a football stadium in Landover, Maryland, five miles east of Washington, D.C.; and in the Library of Congress.
“The library is spacious, beautiful and historic,” said Maj. Nathan Pooler, the troop commander for Alaska guardsmen in D.C. “It takes a long time to load up and be transported back to the hotel, so it’s not feasible to leave the area during our breaks,” he said.
Military involvement in the Presidential Inauguration dates back 232 years to when members of the U.S. Army, local militias (the modern-day National Guard), and Revolutionary War veterans escorted George Washington to New York City—the seat of government for his inauguration ceremony. The National Guard and other military units have continued this tradition of inaugural support ever since.
Photo credit: U.S. Airmen and Soldiers with the Alaska National Guard climb the stairs inside the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 2021. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Mike Risinger)
In the sweeping oil-and-gas moratorium order by President Joe Biden last week, Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans and their heirs got the shaft.
After 50 years of trying to get the Native land allotment they are owed, those selections have now been put on ice.
During the Vietnam War, hundreds of Alaska Native men went to fight overseas in Vietnam. They missed out on being able to select up to 160 acres of land before the Alaska Native Allotment Act of 1906 was repealed in 1971 with the advent of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
For years, the Alaska delegation in DC has fought to restore that right to acquire their lands, robbed from them under an unjust oversight. But with the stroke of a pen last week, President Biden has once again pulled that land back to federal control.
Biden also put a hold on the transfer of land to the State of Alaska — land that was promised as part of the Alaska Statehood Act.
Former Sec. David Berhardt, as one of his final acts in the Trump Administration, signed four public land order revocations to allow these land transfers to go forward. The new administration is putting them on ice.
As for the State selections of its final land allotment from the federal government, Alaska has been waiting to see where the mineral potential was on the various lands it might select to become developable state lands. Those mineral lands might have become revenue for the State.
In another order last week, Biden ordered that face masks be worn on all public lands. That includes subsistence hunters in places like Kaktovik, who might leave Native land to hunt for food on federally owned lands. According to the order, they must wear a face mask.
