A weblog on Alaska politics, and other musings, ramblings, and vagaries.

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

The Moral Bankruptcy of Sean Parnell

I was, of course, glad when Princess Dumas of the Northwoods (short version) abdicated in favor of Commander Zero, both because it was good to see her gone and because I liked Parnell.  I thought him a decent sort who might make a reasonable governor. 

I have never been more wrong.  General political disagreements aside, Parnell's career as Governor has been an unparalleled portrait in political cowardice.  His abject fear of the Tea Party and religious right has driven him to adopt policies that cross the line from simple wrongheadedness to a moral bankruptcy that is entirely unforgivable.

I'm not talking here about about oil taxes - I'm no great fan of Princess Dumas' tax policy, nor do I like the misleading politics that Hollis & Co. are playing on this issue.  I didn't think Commander Zero's ideas were all that hot, but there's a lot of room for reasonable disagreement.

This is most centrally about two things: education funding and Medicare expansion.  On education funding, there's been a mulit-year strategy through which he is shafting kids out of their chance at a decent education to kowtow to the religious right, who want public money to fund their Christian madrassas.  Worse still, on Medicaid expansion, though, Parnell's transparent political cowardice and the price he is making other pay for it are simply astounding.  Just to appeal to Tea Party idiots who don't like Mitt Romney's universal health insurance plan cuz the Kenyan Usurper got his cooties on it, he is literally willing to turn down buckets of free money and, much worse, literally condemn people to death.  It is both mind boggling in its stupidity and "almost awesome in its evilness."

As Mom used to say, it makes me so mad I could spit ...