VOTE FOR (YOUR NAME HERE)!!

I am certainly not known to have my finger on the pulse of the Republican Electorate, and thus Alaska election predictions are well out of my wheelhouse.  Nor do I have any great estimation of the intelligence of that sector of the populace (koffkoff Joe Miller koff). That said, I will indeed be at least slightly surprised if they go in for the bland and uninspiring corporate phoniness projected by the (other) Dan Sullivan for Senate! campaign.

Case in point, Cap'n Dan's recent "editorial" on healthcare policy.  This is a document not so much written as excreted.  There is absolutely nothing demonstrating any level of thoughtfulness, vision, or leadership, nor is there anything that speaks to any particularized Alaskan concerns regarding this important topic.  Instead, it's just a grab-bag of generic Republican talking points that any right wing press flack might have tossed up in any one of two dozen Senate races.

Now, I obviously have many substantive disagreements with the R's on the issue of Obamacare, and there is certainly room for good faith disagreements (not that we've ever had such a discussion).  My own issue with Cap'n Dan, though, is that, although he is supposed to be the Thinking Man's Republican, he has fully immersed himself in both the bat$h!t crazy BS that has taken over that side of the aisle ("Socialism!! Benghazi!!") and the bad faith obstructionism that defines their zero sum politics.  Personally I have great regard for Dan, but as a Senator he would be nothing but another ambitious, unprincipled schmuck fully willing to heave to and help the R leadership push us all over the cliff to meet their short-term goals.  His "editorial" is fully consistent with that.  There is not a single idea or proposal regarding the real issue of access to health care - he's just trying to con the suckers into another "tremendous bleating of 'Four legs good, two legs bad!'"  There's really no difference between Cap'n Dan and Tea Party Joe.

But that's me.  What I wonder is whether the suckers will really buy into Cap'n Dan's schtick.  Again, this "editorial" really could have been crapped out by any press flack in any House or Senate race anywhere in the US.  Are Dan's flyby's in AK really going to do the trick in convincing the True Believers that he's one of them?  Do they really not care who is running against Begich?  Maybe so ...

Dios Me Guia!

Let us all remember that God is Love. Unless you're a little girl who doesn't want to get all tarted up for the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant, that is - then God hates you and wants you to feel ostracized and worthless.

Derp Van Dyke

Being a resident of a deeply red state, I've become more and more used to uninformed opinion.  My favorite style (in the "screechiest nails on the blackboard" sense) is the Palinesque Lecture, in which an underpowered Conservative Intellect condescendingly explains to all those Liberal Smartyboots out there that his/her through-the-looking-glass understanding of things is obviously correct, and they're all just Big Dummies.  Classics include "Of Course Concealed Carry Laws Make Us All Safer, Because An Armed Society Is A Polite Society" and "Of Course If You Allow Poor Kids To Eat Lunch They'll Develop Weak Moral Character."  Forget every reputable analysis that's ever been done - we have Truthiness on our side, and this meme got a big hand at CPAC!

For a pure "wtf?!?!" factor, however, it will be hard to beat the stupefying natterings of local Wealthy White Stay At Home Mom With Too Much Time On Her Hands Joanne Pantages.  "Of course," Ms. Pantages explains to all those silly liberals out there, "we should be able to direct public money to religious schools.  After all, as taught on the Dick Van Dyke Show so long ago, just moving the money to a different account doesn't change who the money belongs to, and when was the last time you saw anyone named "Public" spend any money? There is no such person! So, it's still my money, and I can spend it where I want, and I want to have kids learn Creation Science and to get a new scarf at Nordstroms."

I am first appalled at the ADN for allowing this even on the editorial page.  Apparently even the most basic understanding of civics is no longer required, and people can take signficant space on the editorial page to spew out obviously arrant BS. 

As for Ms. Pantages, she really needs to stop writing - please, just stop.  Either she is honestly expressing her understanding, which is really just sad, or she is just trying to market this bill with ... well, with obviously arrant BS.