Fight for us Mr. Governor

Governor Michael J. Dunleavy did not do what we expected, and that was to step back and evaluate, rather than knee jerk. He did what his advisors recommended, Zink, his oracle in a yurt, is a Fauci repeater, that’s all she did was repeat the CDC.

Problem is, while the rush to confine the population based upon Neil Ferguson’s draconian model that was not checked at any level of government in the U.S., Britain, or Europe until very recently, the counts and the knowledge diverged–the counts fell off, the knowledge increased. Fauci was right, this is no more than a bad flu season.

Ferguson’s model was shown to be garbage in, garbage out, worthless, bad math, bad programming and no one checked it. No one. Ferguson needs to be held accountable along with all of the federal officials at the CDC, Britain’s NHS and the EU. Fools.

Alaska was facing a severe economic decline, because OPEC’s and Russia’s machinations to cripple the U.S. oil output, something that we now see with the shut downs on the North Slope. The North Slope was not shut down, because of COVID-19, the drop in price was the underlying cause.

In the face of an economic disaster, Governor Dunleavy reacted in response to the paradigm of Fauci et al, he shut down Alaska and violated the 1st Amendment with the ban on assemblies, free association, religious services and Article IV with respect to free travel and equal rights under the law with the 14 day quarantine for travelers. Then, there is his abandonment of his agenda.

Dunleavy had an opportunity to mitigate the impact upon Alaskans by fighting for the PFD distribution, both the monies owed and the current PFD. He did not challenge the Legislature this session, nor has he called a special session to reverse the $4B sweep into the PF and pay what’s owed to Alaskans to mitigate the damage. He stood there while the Legislature ignored his desire for multiple payments. However, he also shortchanged his campaign promise by truncating his attempt at just the monies owed from last years and the current PFD. Full payment would have kept Alaskans in money, eliminated the need for the federal payment and kept the economy. His failure to act in our defense by calling a special session and challenging the Legislature using the bully pulpit may be lost, unless he acts now.

Mike Dunleavy lost a lot of support with his lack of commitment regarding his agenda and the PFD, and did more damage with the violation of our constitutional rights. I give no credit to Dr. Zink, his oracle in a yurt, who hid in her yurt while her subordinates reported to work at their state offices.

Dunleavy will not be recalled, although Kevin Meyers cannot do much damage to the PFD issue than already has been done. Dunleavy has all but conceded that issue to Giessel and Edgmon to the detriment of all Alaskans. The damage to Alaska business was unnecessary, the damage to our healthcare system was arrested early enough that there were only 300 jobs lost in the YK Delta healthcare system.

The damage to come from the looming economic catastrophe is the greatest challenge, more so for Alaska than any other state. We are a one trick pony, the governor conceded both his agenda and the PFD to the Legislature.

Reelection is not recall, the recall issues are moot and no longer relevant. The reelection campaign may see one or even two primary challengers.

Dunleavy cannot afford the Parnell leadership paradigm of doing nothing in the face of adversity. Yet, that seems to be both the advice taken and the path chosen. His choice, fight for us, regain the initiative for his agenda, or become a one term governor, just like Parnell and Walker. His choice. Guys like me have been trying to tell him, but we haven’t been able to get the message across.

Larry Wood is a 65-year resident of Alaska, and lives on Lazy Mountain.