Alaska’s Two Senators Need To Stand Up To Their Party
Have you noticed how the most recent crop of mosquitoes have the attack and dodging capabilities that you really only see at a military air show? The swallows have fledged and baby ravens are screaming, “WHAT?” at the top of their lungs. WHAT? WHAT? Well, for starters, could you babies give it a break until at least 6 a.m.?
The blueberries have some strange blight and the salmonberries are dragging their heels. After their amazing performance last year, well, it’s fine that they slept in this year.
An eagle got laid on his back by a mama sandhill crane. Protective crane parents have been attacking vehicles slowed down to observe the sweet chicks. I’ve been in an undeclared war with my phone company about what the term “warranty” means. It’s occurring to me that they have an advantage. I may have to cave soon. My wasp bite was bitten by a mosquito and then a midge. Do you think we should call that a hat trick or the turducken of bug bites?
Have you had family visiting from Outside? How’s that going? Nothing like hide-a-bed residents who don’t know we take our shoes off at the door.
OK. I can’t do it anymore. Pretending to remember what we used to talk about before our politics all went to hell in a handbasket? It was great! It was boring sometimes. Boring was awesome because it didn’t mean you had to follow flowcharts of former KGB meetings and presidential campaigns or try to track Mitch McConnell’s war on your affordable access to health care.
Yep. Ol’ Mitch is thinking he’ll have the votes to repeal “Obamacare” next week. It’s a hard sell since no one showing up to town hall meetings is begging to have their health care repossessed. There aren’t throngs of folks hoping their grandma will get kicked out of Medicaid and out of her nursing home. You’re shocked. Sen. Lisa Murkowski showed up for a few of those gatherings last week. She was told it was time for a public option – or, better yet, Medicaid for all. That’s about a 180 from where the Senate GOP majority is trying to take us.
I don’t have a lot of hope the Senate newbie Dan Sullivan will vote in the best interest of Alaskans. He will vote exactly how he is told to vote – polar citizens be damned. Really? You think I’m wrong? Give that guy a chance? I would LOVE to be wrong. I’d be so happy to write a column saying, “I, Shannyn Moore, free-range liberal who lives in the woods, was entirely wrong about Dan Sullivan and am shocked and delighted that he voted against the wishes of Mitch McConnell and stood up for not only Alaskans – but Americans everywhere.”
Most of you are getting emails from all sorts of places telling you to please contact Lisa Murkowski as maybe she will be a deciding vote to protect the advances of the ACA. Really, AARP? I am so not old enough to be hearing from them, but maybe they know I worry about my folks.
People want to know if Lisa will do the right thing – even though McConnell keeps trying to sweeten the deal for just Alaskans to get her vote. They’ve all but written in bonuses for “states that start with A and end with A, that aren’t Alabama or Arizona.” Kind of reminds me of that Chilkoot Charlie saying, “We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.” That’s bad governing. She knows that. She does have a knack for making it seem very difficult on herself to do the wrong thing.
OK, I’ll try. Dear Sen. Murkowski, I know you like to fish. We all do. Could you please tell your party to stop jacking around with health care so we can focus on filling our canners and freezers? Thanks. That’d be great.
You try next. She’s probably more likely to listen to you than me. Won’t you be glad when we can go back to talking about how the “slow pull out lane” applies to every car in front of you and that porcupines should be way more careful on the roads considering their mothers literally stand on their heads to copulate and then are pregnant for seven months. Then they give birth to a porcupine! See … that’s way more interesting than all the D.C. drama, so kill the bill, Lisa.
