We Must Retire Don Young, and Here’s Why
I was about 10 when I heard a sermon I will never forget. The speaker that day drew a few gasps from the congregation of the Homer Christian Church when he disagreed with a passage from the Bible. He quoted from 1 Corinthians, Ch. 13, the passage you often hear at weddings: “Faith, Hope and Love, the greatest of these is love.” “That’s not true,” he said. “The greatest of these is hope.” He explained that his father had committed suicide. There was no shortage of love in their family. His father had simply lost hope that the pain of…
Young Insolent to Students – Suicide, Gay Sex & more
Alaska’s lone congressman, Don Young, spoke to a group of students at Wasilla High School Tuesday. If that sentence alone made you wince, then congratulations. It shows you’ve been paying attention to the rapidly crazying octogenarian who represents all Alaskans in the halls of Washington D.C. Earlier this month, Young barked at his Democratic opponent after a touch on the arm, “Don’t ever touch me! The last guy who touched me wound up on the ground, dead!” This time it’s insensitive remarks about suicide, berating friends of the victim, and comparing Alaska’s newly legal same-sex marriage to bull fornication. And…
Haters Sad. Don’t Understand Government.
Local purveyor of gay and uterine control, Jim Minnery of the Alaska Family Council, has taken to the emails again to vent his sadness and outrage about how the government works. “Like a good soldier, Alaska District Court Judge Tim Burgess, fell right in line with the rest of the activist courts across the country and ruled yesterday that Article 1 Section 25 of our State Constitution defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman was unconstitutional.” That’s right. That George W. Bush appointee, Tim Burgess, is a gay activist… just like every single other court that…
Alaska Celebrates Marriage Equality
Tonight a jubilant crowd gathered at Mad Myrna’s in downtown Anchorage to celebrate a judge’s ruling that declared Alaska’s current restrictive marriage laws unconstitutional both on the grounds of equal protection, and due process. It felt historic and happy, and long overdue. There was lots of smiling, and love, and laugher, and cake with rainbow sprinkles. Monday morning, Courtney Lamb and Stephanie Pearson, litigants in the case, will apply for a marriage license in Anchorage. It was a good day for equality, personal liberty, and constitutional justice. Congratulations to us all.
Marriage Equality Comes to Alaska!
It happened more quickly than most were expecting. Judge Timothy Burgess ruled Sunday afternoon that Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The finding in the case Hamby v. Parnell read in part as follows: “The court finds that Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage and refusal to recognize same sex marriages lawfully entered in other states is unconstitutional as a deprivation of basic due process and equal protection principles under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” The Hamby suit was filed in May by five same-sex couples – four of whom sought to have their marriages in other states…
Alaska Marriage Equality Has Day in Court
Courtroom 1 at the Alaska District courthouse was full to overflowing. Courtroom 2 held those who couldn’t find a seat. The fates (and a friend) ushered my daughter and I to seats right in the jury box, which was a wonderful surprise. A TV monitor to my left showed a distant room which I knew to be in Fairbanks, because there was Gary Black from the Newsminer! Juneau was with us also, and had to be asked to mute their sound because of laughing and merriment. The mood was optimistic, but cautious. Alaska’s LGBT community has had victories within their grasp, and…
VP Joe Biden Addresses Netroots Nation in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan – Vice President Joe Biden addressed the progressive activist Netroots Nation convention in the ballroom of the Cobo Center in Detroit on Thursday, explaining that he was 45 minutes late for his scheduled speech because of the crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, shot down over Ukraine earlier in the day. “About three hundred souls were lost,” Biden said, acknowledging that some of those may have been American citizens. He described the situation as “grave,” saying, “The families need consolation and our prayers.” The Vice President explained that he had been engaged with a national security team, and on…
God Hates Changepoint & Bieber
The Westboro Baptist Church is making plans to picket another Anchorage location on its whistle stop Hate Tour of the Last Frontier. Their destination? Changepoint Church. WBC had already announced plans to picket the Alaska Native Heritage Center on the morning of June 1 to voice their distaste about all that unholy Native Heritage and “diversity.” While they’re in the neighborhood, they’re going to stop by Alaska’s #2 mega-church and let ‘em have it for being “lukewarm” about their Christianity. There is only one other mega-church in the city – The Anchorage Baptist Temple – which so far has been passed…
Anchorage Muni Voter Guide
The editors of The Mudflats don’t always agree, but this time we’re unanimous. What we agree upon most of all is that everyone must get out to vote tomorrow, Tuesday, April 1. Local elections are the most important, and least well attended. This one is particularly critical, so no excuses. Here’s your down and dirty voter guide. Anchorage Assembly Races East Side Adam Trombley vs. Pete Petersen vs. Mao Tosi Trombley has rallied the troops at the Anchorage Tea Party “Day of Resistance,” spent most of his time trying to distance himself from an increasingly unpopular Mayor who hand-selected him…
LGBT Hero of the Day!
Hats off to Alaska Airlines President and CEO Bradley Tilden who sent this letter today to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. It speaks for itself.
