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Fritz Pettyjohn: Russia, Ukraine and the high price of anti-Trump fanaticism

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Fritz Pettyjohn: Russia, Ukraine and the high price of anti-Trump fanaticism

By FRITZ PETTYJOHN

Alaska has something in common with the world’s worst tyrannies in the world – the Saudi royal family, the mullahs of Iran and Putin’s Russia: We all benefit from higher oil prices. At current prices, Alaska’s budget problems are solved (if temporarily) while Russia, Iran and the Saudis have enough money to support their chronically weak economies. And they have money for mischief as well.

It looks like Russia will take its second bite out of Ukraine at the end of the Winter Olympics, on or about 2-22-22. Its first bite, Crimea, was taken at the end of Sochi Winter Olympics in February of 2014. No one will stop them now, just as no one stopped them eight years ago. Economic sanctions won’t deter them now, just as they didn’t stop them before.

Modern Russian adventurism is tied to the price of oil. With oil currently above $90 a barrel, the Russians are taking in $1 billion a day in hard currency, and sanctions won’t put a dent in that income. Oil is a fungible commodity. There will always be a market for Russian oil somewhere.

In 1979, when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, oil was at $115 a barrel. In 2014, when the Crimea was invaded, it was at $120 a barrel. In contrast, in 1986, when Gorbachev threw in his hand, and gave up on competing with the United States militarily, the price got down to $11 a barrel. Without hard currency from oil, Russia could no longer afford to play the superpower game, and the Cold War was over. As Reagan had predicted, and helped bring about, we won, they lost. Oil was a big part of it.

In the end, Russia will likely wind up with a piece of eastern Ukraine, where most of the ethnic Russians live. Russians are withering on the vine, demographically, and Putin wants as many Russians in Russia proper as he can get.  What’s left of Ukraine will not join NATO and will be, effectively, a satellite of Russia. Demography is not destiny, but geography is. Demographics can change. Geography never does. The Ukrainians are cursed because of their location next to Russia and terrain that provides no defense. 

It’s not fair, and it’s not right, but there is a lot of injustice in this world. The American people deplore all of it. But we won’t fight a war to stop it. Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us a lesson. From now on, we will only fight wars when our national security is at stake. That’s definitely not the case in Ukraine.

Joe Biden will bear some of the responsibility for the invasion of Ukraine. Beginning in his first day in office, with the cancellation of the Keystone pipeline, he declared war on American energy production. To him and his fellow environmental extremists, it is the price of fighting climate change. It’s a high price, but he’s willing for you to pay it. He wants high energy prices, in order to depress consumption, reduce pollution, and incentivize the transition to alternative energy sources. When he took office oil was around $50 a barrel. It will be $100 a barrel before long. 

High oil prices enrich some of the worst human rights violators in the world — the Russian autocrat Putin, the Saudi royal family, and the Iranian mullahs. To curb their wealth, and their mischief making, we need to encourage North American oil and gas production. American shale production helped bring down the price of oil, and it can do so again. Federal lands, most especially Alaska’s ANWR, need to be opened up again for exploration and production. Until then the Saudis, the Russians and the Iranians have some fat years ahead of them.

We were well on our way under President Trump. The next President will be a like-minded Republican, barring satanic intervention. We’ll be back on the road to energy dominance on January 20, 2025. Until then Americans will pay at the gas pump, pay to heat our homes, and pay with inflation. 

The political coalition that brought down Trump in 2020 was fanatical in its determination. They were willing to break the law, destroy their own credibility, and violate every American political norm. They were willing to foist an incompetent old fool on the country as president. None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was beating Trump.

We’re all paying the price of this fanaticism. Sadly, so will Ukraine.

Fritz Pettyjohn served in the Alaska Legislature during the Alaska economic recession of the mid 1980’s, which resulted from low oil prices.

Grand inquisition widens: House majority votes to pressure Rep. Eastman over glorifying ‘evil’

Suzanne Downing
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Grand inquisition widens: House majority votes to pressure Rep. Eastman over glorifying ‘evil’

The Alaska House of Representatives’ leftist majority today voted to move a “Sense of the House” condemnation against Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla into the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, which already has a hearing scheduled to investigate the veterans’ group known as the Oath Keepers.

The Sense of the House, offered by Rep. Grier Hopkins of Fairbanks, says that Eastman has spoken about government Covid-19 vaccine and mask mandates and compared them to actions taken by the Nazis during the Holocaust, a comparison he finds “offensive and unacceptable.”

Undaunted, on Thursday during the House floor session’s “Special Orders” part of the agenda, Eastman made comments comparing vaccine mandates to events that led up to the Holocaust.

The House spent more than a half an hour on the question of whether the Sense of the House should be sent to committee or debated and voted on the floor right then and there. There clearly were not the votes to pass it on the floor.

The vote to send it to committee was 21-17, with Republican Rep. Kelly Merrick from Eagle River voting with her fellow Democrats, who control the House. Merrick joined the Democrat-led majority last year. Republican Rep. Steve Thompson was absent from the floor during the vote, and Democrat Rep. Ivy Spohnholz had an excused absence.

Eastman, who rose to make several points of order during the extraordinary proceedings that were operating far outside the Mason’s Manual rule book, said the matter — even if it was an attack on him — deserved debate on Wednesday on the floor, not to be buried in a committee.

View the House proceedings at this link.

The Military and Veterans Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing to attack the Oath Keepers, scheduled for Thursday under the committee’s chair, Democrat Rep. Chris Tuck. Rep. Eastman is a member of the Oath Keepers, some of whom were arrested but not yet convicted for actions taken on Jan. 6, 2021 as Congress was certifying the Electoral College. Eastman, while in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, stayed far away from the Capitol.

It’s clear that along with the scheduled hearing on Oath Keepers, and now the insertion of the Sense of the House, the committee is engaged in a McCarthy-style inquisition.

The hearing on Thursday will feature Alex Friedfeld with the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. He will talk in depth about the Oath Keepers and the militia movement in the United States. Friedfeld is a former New York City police officer and has a masters degree in security studies from George Washington University.

Friedfeld was featured in this Rolling Stone story about Oath Keepers.

Hour 2 of the hearing will include a presentation from Jon Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University who previously worked as a research assistant at the International Institute for Counterterrorism and the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. He has written an article about the Oath Keepers and their role in the Jan. 6 break-in at the U.S. Capitol.

In January Lewis co-wrote a scathing article on Oath Keepers in a blog called Lawfare.com.

The Legislature has been in session for 23 days. In recent weeks, the House Democrats tried to strip Eastman from all of his Committees, but that effort failed to win enough votes to move forward, since it would have required more than a simple majority. Several House Democrats want to have Eastman expelled from the House altogether, but they can’t muster the votes to accomplish that mission.

In the past, the Democrats have censured Eastman for statements he made to the media about the role of Medicaid, pregnancy, and rural Alaskans getting government-paid trips to the city. That made some Democrats so mad they demanded he apologize, which he refused to do.

Eastman unsuccessfully called for a Sense of the House over a beer and ping-pong party that legislators on the Left engaged in during the Capitol’s Covid shutdowns in 2021.

Read: Beer pong, leg wrestling, and a terse memo from Legislative Affairs in a time of Covid

Leftists on the offense: Rep. Chris Tuck to open up investigation on Oath Keepers

Board of Regents to take public testimony on Pat Pitney as new permanent president of University of Alaska

Suzanne Downing
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Board of Regents to take public testimony on Pat Pitney as new permanent president of University of Alaska

The University of Alaska Board of Regents will hear public testimony on Feb. 14 and then, meeting as the Governance Committee on Feb. 18, discuss the proposal to make Pat Pitney the permanent University of Alaska president.

Pitney has been serving as interim president since Aug. 1, 2020, after former President Jim Johnsen stepped down.

The public testimony portion of the Feb. 14 meeting will be from 4-5 pm. To testify, call 1-866-831-8713 between those hours, Alaska time.

Each caller will have two minutes to offer thoughts, feedback or updates on topics or issues related to the University of Alaska system. Public testimony is held in advance of the board’s Feb. 17-18 committee meetings and full board meeting on Feb. 24-25. 

The special Governance Committee meeting will be convened by Regent Chairwoman Sheri Buretta and Committee Chairwoman Mary K. Hughes to gather input from faculty, staff, and student governance leaders regarding a motion to appoint Interim President Pat Pitney as the permanent president. That meeting, Feb. 18, will be from 3:30-5:30 pm and will be live streamed at www.alaska.edu/bor/live.

Written testimony is accepted at any time and is shared with the board and the president. Write to [email protected]. Agendas will be publicly available at: http://www.alaska.edu/bor/agendas/ 

Homeland Security says online misinformation is an ongoing terror threat

Suzanne Downing
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Homeland Security says online misinformation is an ongoing terror threat

 Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin regarding the continued heightened threat environment across the United States.  In it, the agency became even more specific about the threat of misinformation and disinformation online, related to Covid, and other matters.

“The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors. These threat actors seek to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence. Mass casualty attacks and other acts of targeted violence conducted by lone offenders and small groups acting in furtherance of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances pose an ongoing threat to the nation,” DHS wrote in its summary.

This is the fifth NTAS Bulletin issued by the Department of Homeland Security since January 2021 and it replaces the current Bulletin that was expired on Wednesday. Previously, the agency had warned about violence that might occur as a result of lockdowns.

DHS: Terrorism and grievance-based violence is a post-lockdown threat

“While the conditions underlying the heightened threat landscape have not significantly changed over the last year, the convergence of the following factors has increased the volatility, unpredictability, and complexity of the threat environment: (1) the proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions; (2) continued calls for violence directed at U.S. critical infrastructure; soft targets and mass gatherings; faith-based institutions, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques; institutions of higher education; racial and religious minorities; government facilities and personnel, including law enforcement and the military; the media; and perceived ideological opponents; and (3) calls by foreign terrorist organizations for attacks on the United States based on recent events,” the bulletin says.  

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, DHS is prioritizing combating all forms of terrorism and targeted violence, including through its efforts to support the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism. Since January 2021, DHS has taken several steps in this regard, including:    

  • established a new domestic terrorism branch within DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis dedicated to producing sound, timely intelligence needed to counter domestic terrorism-related threats;   
  • launched the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) to provide communities with resources and tools to help prevent individuals from radicalizing to violence;   
  • designated domestic violent extremism as a “National Priority Area” within DHS’s Homeland Security Grant Program for the first time, resulting in at least $77 million being spent on preventing, preparing for, protecting against, and responding to related threats nationwide;   
  • provided $180 million in funding to support target hardening and other physical security enhancements to non-profit organizations at high risk of terrorist attack through DHS’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP);   
  • increased efforts to identify and evaluate MDM, including false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories spread on social media and other online platforms, that endorse violence; and,   
  • enhanced collaboration with public and private sector partners – including U.S. critical infrastructure owners and operators – to better protect our cyber and physical infrastructure and increase the Nation’s cybersecurity through the Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Cordova’s Will Deaton is winner of trip to Mar-a-Lago with Kelly Tshibaka

Suzanne Downing
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Cordova’s Will Deaton is winner of trip to Mar-a-Lago with Kelly Tshibaka

Former President Donald Trump is going to get the opportunity of a lifetime this week: He gets to meet Will Deaton of Cordova.

Deaton will be traveling to Mar-a-Lago to attend Kelly Tshibaka’s fundraiser with Trump, planned for Feb. 10. Tshibaka, the Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alaska, announced that Deaton, a 20-year-old, won the sweepstakes that will cover his expenses for the trip.

“Alaskans love what President Trump did for our state and we are delighted to give one of our residents the chance to thank him in person,” Tshibaka said. “We appreciate President Trump’s support of Alaska so much, and we want him to know that Alaskans support him as well. His America First policies were the best for us: energy independence, lower taxes, border security, and a strong military–the list goes on and on. This will be a tremendous event for our campaign, and I am excited that William will be sharing it with us.”

“It will be the thrill of a lifetime to be with Kelly and meet President Trump at legendary Mar-a-Lago,” Deaton said in a statement released by the campaign. “When you enter a contest like this, you never really think you’re going to win. I am a strong Tshibaka supporter, and I love what President Trump did for Alaska and the country. This will be a trip that I’m sure I will never forget.”

Deaton will be a student at Hillsdale College in the fall, was randomly chosen as the winner of the sweepstakes Tshibaka has been publicizing for the past month. No purchase or campaign contribution was required to enter.

But Deaton is also a rising star in politics in Alaska. A couple of years ago, he helped reorganized the Cordova Republicans, “because it is important for conservatives to have an organization, in their community, through which they can organize and advocate for conservative causes.” Deaton said at the time. “At our first meeting, we passed four resolutions. I took those to the district convention, where two of those passed. Those two are now going to the state convention, where Cordovans will support the Alaska Marine Highway System and call for an end to the binding-caucus rule.”

Tshibaka, who was born and raised in Alaska, is challenging incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski for the U.S. Senate. Tshibaka has spent her career exposing fraud and abuse in government and served as Commissioner of Administration for the State of Alaska until she stepped down to announce her campaign. Her father was a union electrician and Vietnam War veteran, and her mother was one of the first workers at the startup of Prudhoe Bay, one of Alaska’s large oil fields. Her parents were homeless for a time in the 1970s, but fought their way into the working class.  

Tshibaka graduated from Steller Secondary School in Anchorage and was the first in her family to pursue a college degree, beginning her studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage before graduating from college and law school. She lives in Anchorage with her husband, Niki, and their five children.  

The head of Anchorage libraries is the municipal manager Amy Demboski

Suzanne Downing
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The head of Anchorage libraries is the municipal manager Amy Demboski

The head of the Anchorage Libraries? That would be the city manager, Amy Demboski. She’s been the lead role since Jan. 12.

Rumblings from the Assembly leftist leadership about how the library system has no chief librarian have reached the left-wing press, which is pressing forward with a story about how Judy Eledge, deputy director of the library system, can’t just run the libraries forever without the mayor appointing someone as director. The Assembly left-wing majority wants a left-wing librarian who will allow the library to continue to deteriorate into a holding pen for vagrants and drug abusers.

The job of library director has been a point of tension between the Assembly majority and the mayor since he took office. The Assembly would not confirm either his first pick, Sami Graham, nor his second, Eledge. Eledge was dropped down to a deputy director to avoid a nasty confirmation hearing that was clearly not going to go in her favor.

The Anchorage Assembly, in its war on Mayor Dave Bronson, passed an ordinance on Jan. 12 stating that no acting director or deputy director can remain unconfirmed in a lead position for more than 60 days. They were targeting Eledge.

In an internal memo obtained by Must Read Alaska, on Jan. 12, Demboski wrote that she had the authority over libraries until such time as a new library director is hired.

As chief management officer of the city, that’s something the Assembly can only address if they change the city charter.

“Judy is the Deputy Director of the Library responsible for day to day operations, and she has been acting as such for nearly a month. During the past month, I have assumed the administrative responsibilities of the Director of the Library under my authority established in Anchorage Municipal Charter,” Demboski said in response to a question from Must Read Alaska.

Demboski said that there is a process for hiring a new library director and that process is underway, and is in the interview stage.

Legislature passes resolution urging official U.S. recognition of Hmong Vietnam vets

Suzanne Downing
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Legislature passes resolution urging official U.S. recognition of Hmong Vietnam vets

On Tuesday, the Alaska State Senate unanimously passed HJR 16, encouraging Congress to grant Hmong Vietnam veterans the same benefits as other veterans of that war. 

Although they were paid by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Hmong soldiers have never been recognized as U.S. veterans, and they receive no benefits. More than 35,000 Hmong and Lao soldiers died fighting for the United States in the conflict.

Rep. David Nelson, an Anchorage Republican who introduced the resolution said, “HJR 16 is deeply meaningful to Hmong people in Alaska and I’m so proud of the unanimous and bipartisan support from the Alaska Legislature.  The promises made for the sacrifices the Hmong soldiers gave on behalf of the United States is long overdue and have gone largely unrecognized. I hope this resolution to the President of the United States and United States Congress shows the Hmong people that we have not forgotten and will continue to fight on their behalf.”

Rep. Laddie Shaw, another Anchorage Republican and a Navy SEAL who fought alongside Hmong soldiers in Vietnam, wrote the following in support of the resolution:

 “In the early 1960’s the CIA sought out the Hmong and recruited them to fight a “secret war” against the North Vietnamese and the communist Pathet Lao. The Hmong played many critical roles under the directions of the of the CIA. They provided direct support and were a lifeline to the Navy SEAL’s, providing intelligence about enemy operations and helping in the rescue of drowned American pilots. During the US Troop pullout in 1973, the Hmong were singled out by the victorious communist governments of Laos and Vietnam. It is estimated that more than 10% (35,000) of the entire Hmong population in Laos died as a result of war. After the fall of Saigon in 1975 the Hmong were hunted down, taken to concentration camps, put into hard labor and persecuted. Their villages were sprayed with chemical weapons and bombed with napalm with an estimated loss of 20,000 additional victims. Many who survived suffered physically, mentally, and emotionally until this day. The Hmong Veterans deserve recognition for their heroic participation in support of American troops…above and beyond the call of duty!”

Pasert Lee, the President of The Hmong Alaska Community, Inc. said he was deeply moved by the bill. “This legislation is an important way to honor Hmong American Veterans who choose to settle in the United States.”

Ronna McDaniel: Media willfully distorts RNC statement on Jan. 6, Cheney, Kinzinger

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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Ronna McDaniel: Media willfully distorts RNC statement on Jan. 6, Cheney, Kinzinger

By RONNA MCDANIEL

If corporate news media wants to know why Americans don’t trust it anymore, they should look no further than the shameful, outrageous, and patently false coverage of the resolution adopted by the RNC to censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

Let me be abundantly clear: as Chairman of the RNC, I have repeatedly condemned the violence that occurred at the Capitol on January 6th and do so again today. On January 6, 2021 , the members of the RNC released a statement that read, “These violent scenes we have witnessed do not represent acts of patriotism, but an attack on our country and its founding principles.” I tweeted that the violence was “shameful” and condemned it in the strongest possible terms. 

The events of that day are deeply personal to me and our team as the FBI found a bomb outside of RNC headquarters that afternoon, and I will never forget what it felt like to know that my staff was in immediate danger. Violence has no place in our political discourse, period, and those who engaged in violence on January 6th and committed crimes should be held accountable with due process by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and prosecutors.

But the awful events of that day do not justify Cheney or Kinzinger enabling a partisan committee whose real purpose seems to be helping Democrats’ electoral prospects at the cost of potentially ruining innocent people’s lives. From the outset, the committee has lacked the legitimacy of past independent, bipartisan efforts investigating events of national importance. For starters, Republican leadership was not allowed to freely appoint a single Republican to the committee.  Instead, Cheney and Kinzinger were hand-picked by Nancy Pelosi. 

The January 6 Committee predictably has now vastly exceeded its original purpose and morphed into something else entirely, investigating Republicans who had nothing to do with January 6 for the apparent offense of being Republican. Under the Committee’s approach, almost anything related to the 2020 election is within the scope of its jurisdiction, to include harassing citizens who were not even in Washington, DC that day.

Nancy Pelosi’s committee – which the New York Times says “is employing techniques more common in criminal cases than in congressional inquiries” – has no authority to pursue criminal charges, is not respecting the rights of private citizens and has disregarded due process and checks and balances. Last month, reports showed that 90 percent of the committee’s subpoenas have been delivered to people who weren’t even at the Capitol on January 6th. That is political posturing, not pursuing justice. Even an individual on trial has the right to face a jury of his peers, but those being called in front of the committee are faced with a hostile kangaroo court that reached a conclusion long before even asking a question.

This includes individuals like one of the RNC’s members who was subpoenaed because, weeks before January 6th, she served as an alternate elector pending the outcome of ongoing lawsuits – an action with clear legal precedent which Democrats themselves have done in the past. Now she could face costly legal bills even though she was nowhere near the Capitol on January 6th and had nothing to do with the violence that occurred.

Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are cheapening the events of January 6th by participating in Nancy Pelosi’s partisan committee. The Senate has already completed one investigation into January 6th, and there are multiple ongoing active law enforcement investigations into what happened that day. These are the correct avenues for investigation.

I firmly believe we are the big tent party, and that disagreement amongst Republicans is welcome and can make us stronger. But what Cheney and Kinzinger are engaged in goes much further than any policy disagreement.  These two have permitted their party affiliation to be weaponized to allow the Democrats gross overreach and abuse of power. In short, they never should have agreed to be part of a committee where Republicans were denied representation. 

As I have repeatedly stated, violence is not legitimate political discourse – whether in the U.S. Capitol or in Democrat-run cities across the country – and neither is abusing Congress’ investigatory powers for political gain. Media outlets pretending that the RNC believes otherwise are doing so in bad faith, and their lies should be called out for the cheap political stunts they are.

Ronna McDaniel is the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. This column first appeared in Townhall.

Study in Contrasts: While Murkowski, Young criticize GOP, Sen. Sullivan connects with truckers on topic of vaccine mandates

The Chris Constant tapes: Assemblyman calls mayor a ‘clown,’ and executive branch ‘fools’

Suzanne Downing
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The Chris Constant tapes: Assemblyman calls mayor a ‘clown,’ and executive branch ‘fools’

Chris Constant, Anchorage Assembly vice chair, has put a target on the mayor — and the mayor’s staff, according to tapes recently acquired by Must Read Alaska. But it wasn’t like that in the beginning, when Mayor Dave Bronson announced his top administrator, Municipal Manager Amy Demboski.

In July, Anchorage Assemblyman Chris Constant wrote a letter to the editor heaping compliments on Demboski. She was a star in his eyes.

“If the mayoral election of 2021 tells us one thing, it is our job to lead through these divisions. We are grateful for the mayor’s choice of Amy Demboski to the second-highest position within the Municipality of Anchorage. Ms. Demboski served collaboratively with us from Day One, and we were impressed because we knew firsthand that she served for all the right reasons. Like us, she truly cares about our community and wants to make a difference. Our political differences are vast, but like us, her focus is the community,” Constant wrote.

“We were able to work through challenging issues and maintain respect for each other because we shared some core values. We can disagree passionately and still treat each other with respect,” he continued.

Constant closed by saying: “Ms. Demboski does her homework and values our opinions. She will be professional, thoughtful and effectively coordinate with the Assembly, mayor, and department directors to ensure the work of the people is done efficiently and professionally.  She will take a reasonable approach to critical issues. Our experience tells us that Anchorage residents can be confident she will serve the community as municipal manager with integrity, ethics, compassion, and respect for our employees. Her decisions will be based on community need with executive and legislative input. She will work fairly with the Assembly, recognizing the challenge the legislative branch has when making decisions. Like us, she will lead with dignity for the betterment of our entire community.” Constant signed the letter along with former Assemblywoman Elvi Gray-Jackson.

That was July 1, 2021 in the Anchorage Daily News.

Seven months later, Constant is a changed man. He no longer respects the mayor’s team. He said last week that the mayor’s office thinks the Assembly leftists are spying on the executive branch, that “we’ve bugged their offices because their bad ideas get out into the community. No, we don’t bug your office. We didn’t need to do that,” Constant said on a podcast. Then he admitted that he has a mole in the mayor’s office. Speaking as though to the mayor directly, he said, “You surround yourself with people who don’t trust you and you surround yourself with bad ideas. That’s what happens.”

Listen to the ‘Bugging their Offices’ tape here.

Constant said on the broadcast that Bronson is a “clown” and his staff are “a team of fools.” Constant went on to describe the Assembly majority’s strategy for dealing with such a confederacy of dunces:

“And this mayor is just ‘veto, veto, veto,’ and ‘override, override, override.’ And so I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit, there’s this ad by this ridiculous blog that must not be named, that said ‘Nothing to report, nothing to report,’ and it had zero impact on the election but it was a pretty scathing ad,” Constant said.

He was speaking of an 2018 Must Read Alaska YouTube video report about former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, when Berkowitz never had anything to report about what he was doing as mayor:

Then Assemblyman Constant said the plan is to override everything Mayor Bronson proposes.

“I’m hopeful that an ad is developed that all these bombastic by this clown [referring to the mayor] who thinks he knows and demonstrates that he doesn’t day in and day out. ‘Veto. Override. Veto. Override.’ Because the true policymakers of the city have always been the Assembly, when it exercises that authority because that’s what the charter grants us. And so we are not going to be run roughshod over by a team of fools [mayor’s team]…” Constant said.

Listen to the ‘Team of Fools’ tape here.

Listen to the ‘Frankly not that smart’ tape here.

Constant, the same one who spoke glowingly of the mayor’s choice for Municipal Manager just seven months prior, spoke on a new podcast run by a radical leftist in East Anchorage. The majority of the time spent on the podcast was a discussion involving fellow Assemblyman Felix Rivera about their experiences as openly gay members of the Assembly.

Anchorage’s Progressive Left shows its anti-semitic side
Assembly Chair LaFrance cusses out employee of municipality
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