Uh, no.
And it’s not for the reasons that you would expect: Big government; big spending; gun grabbing; Medicaid expansion; big taxes, anti-development, pro-green, PFD. While all of these are slam dunk reasons to vote against Mark Begich for the next Alaska governor, I would point out that it will be his approach to the Bush, the Native separatists out there, and his approach to state sovereignty that worries me the very most.
The last time we elected a democrat as governor, the guy who Begich started out his political career driving for, Tony Knowles gave up a large chunk of state sovereignty by unilaterally and with prejudice pulling out of an appeal of the Katie John case. This was done as a payoff to Bush separatists who supported him. True to his word, he ordered his Attorney General, one Bruce Botelho, to pull the State of Alaska appeal. Botelho, who went on to his fame and fortune staffing the Walker administration with every single democrat in the state, happily complied. Perhaps he figured that he served Knowles rather than the citizens of the state. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/alaskas-bid-overturn-latest-ruling-katie-john-case-rejected-supreme-court/2014/03/31/
Well, Begich is traveling the same trail Knowles blazed, happily proposing to turn over state sovereignty over navigable waters on federal lands to the feds in return for a native preference for subsistence.
The vehicle this time around is State of Alaska support for the ongoing John Sturgeon fight with the Department of the Interior. Sturgeon is on his way back to the Supreme Court of the United States with yet another appeal.
Mark’s promise? From his website:
As Governor, I will continue these efforts and ensure that my administration understands, values, and protects these rights. That also means ensuring the state does not participate in any activity that could jeopardize subsistence rights like the State’s recent support of the Sturgeon case which could have devastating impacts on our rural communities and subsistence rights.
You can read it and the other promises he makes here: https://www.markbegich.com/priorities/fish/
The last democrat governor tossed state sovereignty to the feds in return for native votes. And the wannabee next one wants to do the very same thing. The first time around is a tragedy. The second is often a farce.
Sturgeon wouldn’t even be a topic in this discussion had the Ninth Circus not gotten cute in its opinions on Sturgeon. They borrowed from the Katie John opinion, the one that Knowles withdrew from, the one that the SCOTUS would have slam-dunked overturned had Knowles not turned tail and ran.
Subsistence started out as a deadly serious enterprise, for if you didn’t take your fish or game, you and those that depend on you would have died. That part of subsistence ended completely the instant the first welfare check hit the Bush. Nobody in Alaska starves anymore unless they want to.
Today, we are left with the spiritual aspect of subsistence, that of respecting and taking care of the resource, using it in the best way humanly possible, thanking God for helping us fill our larder, and that of being one with the Earth and the resource. Why is this a spirituality restricted to only Alaska Natives? If it is truly a positive worldview wouldn’t all of us benefit from it? Wouldn’t the entire citizenry benefit from proper respect and reverence for the bounty bestowed upon us by God or whatever your description of Him may be?
Yet Knowles and now Begich tell us that the only people who can participate in subsistence are Alaska natives and they are both ready, willing and able to turn over control of the taking of fish and game, control of the very lands and waters of this Great State to the feds who haven’t a bloody clue how we do things, why we do things, and really don’t care either way as long as they are in charge. Isn’t that a racial preference? How about government support of a religion? And I thought those things were double plus ungood. Silly me. (/sarc)
Basically, Mark Begich it is telling us that most of all he wants to be Governor of Alaska Subsistence people, especially if they are natives, and the interests and needs of every single other Alaskan can go straight to either a very hot place or a very cold place depending which Circle you choose to occupy.
And by definition, this makes Mark Begich a less honorable Alaskan that they guy he is trying to replace, Bill Walker, something that scares me to death.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He is a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
