GOP Leader Threatens Sexual Assault Council
Speaker of the House Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski) is throwing rape victims under the train to get the governor’s out-of-state buddy on an Alaska gasline board. You’ve got to hand it to him; the lengths to which he will go to demonstrate his lack of common decency are not half-assed. In a state where 37 percent of women report having experienced sexual violence, and where rape statistics are three times the national average, Mike Chenault proves that for those like himself, there are more important things. Like getting the governor’s Texas buddy on the gasline board. The premise of Chenault’s latest legislative…
Alaskan Politicos Weigh In On Climate Change
In an article today in the Anchorage Daily News written by Lisa Demer our outstanding representatives were reached for comment on several different questions pertaining to climate change. While none of them out right denied what 95% of scientists now agree on – that climate change is caused by man… they’re answers danced around the truth. Mike Chenault’s was my favorite. When asked by the ADN. “Do you believe there is a human-caused element to climate change? House Speaker Mike Chenault slyly answered: “I think that there is. To what extent there is, is the argument, I believe.” Ok, Mike….
The View from Juneau
An old saying goes something like this, “We hate in others what we hate in ourselves.” I don’t think I’ve seen a better example of that than this 28th legislative session. I flew to Juneau to watch the last days of the session for myself. Home in Anchorage, I spend a remarkable amount of time watching Gavel to Gavel – I even Tivo it. But the cameras don’t show what’s really going on in the Capitol, restaurants and bars; they don’t show the lobbyists following lawmakers into the bathroom or to the smoking porch. (I have to wonder whether the…
Corrupt Bastard Comes to School Board **VIDEO UPDATE**
UPDATE: Mr. Corkran withdrew his name for consideration on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, Thomas P. Corkran will be sworn in as a School Board member. He was selected by the Anchorage School Board after four rounds of voting to fill the seat vacated by Gretchen Guess. The board had boiled the candidates down to two, and selected Corkran over the CEO of Avant-Garde Learning Alliance, Kameron Perez-Verdia. There were 41 applications: why did they pick this guy? Do our School Board members know how to Google? I’m hoping the answer is no. Why? Because the alternative is spooky. Mr….
Palin Fiddles While Alaska Burns
Former half-term governor Sarah Palin marches ever-onward toward becoming the Don Rickles of the conservative right. It’s a lofty goal with plenty of competition. Alaskans will remember that even back when Palin was governor, she was never happier than when she was mocking and deriding the Republican establishment. In her home town of Wasilla, it was then Senate President Lyda Green. Later she graduated to throwing tomatoes at Governor Frank Murkowski. Several of those tomatoes were direct hits, resulting in her ascension to the Governor’s Mansion. She was also the presence behind the scenes of an attempted but failed Republican…
HB69: A National Disgrace
The most controversial bill in recent Alaska history – and beyond – might be this session’s House Bill 69, sponsored by Speaker Mike Chenault. This House legislation was advertised as a declaration of state sovereignty as it related to owning firearms in Alaska. But that was more of a side note to the actual threat the language of the bill presents. HB69 includes provocative language stipulating that state authorities could, should the bill pass, arrest federal agents who attempted to enforce federal law regarding gun regulations. For instance, if Washington DC passed a law tomorrow stating that high capacity ammo clips are…
Sen. Backpedals About Alaska’s Dimwit Voters
There’s backpedaling, and then there’s Backpedaling. Sen. Lesil McGuire (R), my friends, is a double-down Backpedaler. It’s actually quite impressive. It’s almost… what’s the word I’m looking for… “Palinesque.” With the current legislature out of touch with actual Alaskans on so many issues, it’s a skill the majority of Republicans are going to have to master. House Majority Leader Lance Pruitt, and Speaker of the House Mike Chenault have already backpedaled to varying degrees that they laughed out loud at the thought of legal same-sex partnerships, despite the fact 70% of Alaskans think it should happen. This time it’s about…
‘Crock of Shit Gate’ Latest Developments
The legislature is in full swing, things are heating up in Juneau, and the emails are flying. But one recent email in particular has painted the office of boorish lout, Speaker of the House Mike Chenault, in a particularly boorish, loutish, light. Go figure. Picture if you will, the lovely and hard-working Sheri Pierce, City Clerk for Valdez ,Alaska, sitting in her office one morning. She’s clerking away for her fine city, fires up the computer, takes a sip of coffee, and sees something in the in-box. Look, it’s an email from Rep. Mike Chenault! She clicks on the email,…
Right Wing Political Theater
Last week, before being sworn into office, my representative to the state House, Lindsey Holmes, decided she’s really a Republican — this after running and winning multiple times as a Democrat. Why more Democratic women aren’t defecting to the party of trans-vaginal probes is beyond me. I suppose I’d be more upset if I thought the Democrats were losing a hard worker who did more than run up her Alaska Airlines mileage on legislative junkets. Lindsey “found herself” for a committee assignment – making Vic Kohring look like a bargaining savant. Her dishonesty with voters and misrepresentation to donors was…
Gun Bill Condones Arrest of Federal Agents
Mike Chenault, the mouth-breathing bully who also happens to be the Republican Speaker of the House in Juneau, has an awesome idea. As the country enters into a conversation about gun control, Chenault puts forward House Bill 69: House Speaker Mike Chenault says federal law enforcement officers should be arrested in Alaska if they attempt to enforce any future federal law banning personal possession of assault rifles or large ammunition clips or if they attempt to register any Alaska firearm. Yes. Really. “Tragedy is not a license for federal encroachment of constitutionally protected freedoms,” said Chenault. But don’t think this…