Unhappy with coverage

To the editor:

Mr. Rockey’s recent story, “Valley legislators meet with public at town hall in Wasilla,” merely provides a conduit for local legislators’ ideological rants, not a report on the proceedings. These days a lot of us choose to avoid public gatherings with the maskless, many, no doubt, packing serious heat. In coverage by today’s Frontiersman I’d hoped to read about what citizens out my way thought about such statements as Sen. Shower’s: “The deeper I dig when I go into the election system for example, the more trouble I find. ... Those that oppose election integrity, those that would oppose fixing our judiciary so that the people have input and it’s not run by the Alaska Bar Association and these other things that have been mentioned, they have grassroots programs that are strong and they’ve got good ground games.” Is anyone listening to this, thinking about this? Some of it doesn’t even make sense (“good ground game”).

By all reports and court decisions, our election system in America and Alaska performed extremely well in an emotionally fraught 2020 election during a pandemic. Also, our state’s judicial system is not run by the ABA, and the people do have input. Our judiciary follows the Alaska Constitution, which most agree has served us well since statehood. Remember the old Alaska saying, “ We don’t give a damn how they do it Outside?” Well, let’s stop following the drumbeat of those trying to restrict voter participation by dividing us and suppressing the votes of those they oppose. In a good year, only about 2/3 of those eligible to vote actually do. Trying to restrict mail-in ballots and ample voting hours isn’t what we need is 2021, especially in Alaska.

By the way, regarding Rep. McCabe’s statement, “That’s the new democrat word, it’s no longer racist we’re seditionist,” judge for yourself. The dictionary defines sedition as “conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch,” so I’m pretty sure one can be a seditionist and a racist. We’ve seen a lot of that in our country lately, and violence simply cannot effect positive political, social, or legal change.

Judith Meidinger,

Wasilla